Vredenburgh's John Drew was one of the greatest high school players in Alabama history

Today – Sept. 30 – marks the 66^th birthday of John Drew, who is one of the greatest basketball players our part of the state has ever produced.

John Drew

Drew was born on Sept. 30, 1954 in Vredenburgh, a small town that sits right on the Wilcox-Monroe County line. Drew played high school ball at J.F. Shields High School in Beatrice and led the Panthers to the Class 2A state title in 1972. In fact, Drew was named the 1972 State Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Drew was one of the most phenomenal high school basketball players that Alabama has ever produced, and a close examination of the Alabama High School Athletic Association’s official basketball records backs this up. Drew hasn’t played high school basketball in nearly half a century, but he still holds several state records that will likely never be broken.

To date, Drew still holds the state record for highest career scoring average. From 1968 to 1972, he averaged an amazing 41.0 points per game. The next closest player in the record books to Drew is Parkway Christian’s Jeremy Monceaux, who averaged 36.7 points per game from 1998 to 2002.

Drew also holds the state records for most rebounds in a season and single-season rebounding average. During the 1971-72 season, Drew grabbed an amazing 764 total rebounds. Over the course of the 35-game season, that’s an average of 21.8 rebounds per game.

When it comes to most points scored in a single game, Drew holds the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in the state record book. During the 1971-1972 season, Drew scored 77 points in a 135-49 win over Snow Hill Institute. That same season, in another game against Snow Hill Institute, Drew scored 74 points in a game that Shields won, 132-70.

Drew is currently No. 4 in the state record books for most points scored in a single season. During his junior year, 1970-1971, he scored an amazing 1,320 total points. Over the course of his high school career, Drew scored 4,018 total points, which puts him No. 4 in the record books in that category. Drew is also currently listed at No. 4 in the record book for highest scoring average in a single season with an average of 44.0 points per game during the 1970-1971 season.

After high school, Drew went on to play college ball for Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. Drew played two seasons at Gardner-Webb before going to the NBA. As a freshman, he averaged 24.4 points per game, and as a sophomore he averaged a double double, scoring 25.9 points and grabbing 13.0 rebounds per game.

In the 1974 NBA Draft, the Atlanta Hawks selected Drew seventh overall, and he went on to play eight seasons for the Hawks and three seasons for the Utah Jazz. Drew amassed all sorts of honors and awards as a professional player and retired with 15,291 career points, 5,088 rebounds and 1,004 steals.

In the end, I’m sure that Drew still has a number of relatives in Wilcox and Monroe counties. Even more people in both counties probably remember watching Drew play high school ball. No doubt they would all attest to the fact that Drew was one of the greatest high school basketball players this part of the state has ever produced.