2002 NFL 1st Rounders

You might think that with five first-round picks in last weekend's NFL draft from the University of Miami that there were more players from Florida high schools chosen in the first round than from any other state. Not true: Californians represented seven of the draft's first 42 picks.

Three of the five Hurricanes are not from Florida while a first-rounder from Oklahoma University, Roy Williams, and a first-rounder from the University of Tennessee, Donte Stallworth, are both Californians. Therefore, it's California, not Florida, that had the most first-rounders this year.

Also, check out the number of grid-hoopers who were chosen. Especially for linemen, it always seems to turn out that the ones who are able to play basketball in high school -- and play it well -- are the ones who wind up being picked as first-rounders in the NFL.

Here's our yearly roundup of the first round of the NFL draft, where each player went to high school and a comment about each player (sources: previous issues of Student Sports Magazine, NFL.com):

Pick Player Pro Team High School
1 David Carr Texans Stockdale (Bakersfield, Calif.)
Among those from Bakersfield who've already made a dent in the NFL is Hall of Famer Frank Gifford.

2 Julius Peppers Panthers Southern Nash (Rocky Mount, N.C.)
A 1997-98 Grid-Hoop All-American by Student Sports, Julius once high jumped 6-8 in high school, rushed for 1,000 yards twice and averaged Not bad for an athlete who was 6-7, 245 pounds at the time.

3 Joey Harrington Lions Central Catholic (Portland, Ore.)
If the Lions ever need an emergency punter, Joey might be their man. He averaged 44.8 yards per punt to go with 2,000 yards passing in senior year at Central Catholic.

4 Mike Williams Bills The Colony (The Colony, Texas)
Mike had more honors in high school as a defensive lineman than on offense and also participated on track team.

5 Quentin Jammer Chargers Angleton (Texas)
Even before the draft, Quentin had already become involved in charitable activities in his hometown.

6 Ryan Sims Chiefs Dorman (Spartanburg, S.C.)
Dominant d-lineman has a little Hollywood in him: his middle name is "O'Neal."

7 Bryant McKinnie Vikings Woodbury (N.J.)
Big guy was pretty fast as a prep. He competed in the 400 meters in track.

8 Roy Williams Cowboys James Logan (Union City, Calif.)
Roy was on a very good prep team that included wideout Charlie Smith, one of the top receivers last fall for Carr at Fresno State.

9 John Henderson Jaguars Pearl-Cohn (Nashville, Tenn.)
Joined Julius Peppers on 1997-98 Student Sports Grid-Hoop All-American team. He averaged 18 rebounds per game and was on many top 100 national lists.

10 Levi Jones Bengals Santa Cruz (Eloy, Ariz.)
Yet another grid-hooper, Levi's top single games as a prep were 21 tackles and five sacks in football and 25 points, 21 rebounds and 13 blocks in basketball.

11 Dwight Freeney Colts Bloomfield (Conn.)
Pass rushing has been in Dwight's blood for a long time. He had 37 sacks in high school.

12 Wendell Bryant Cardinals Ritenour (St. Louis, Mo.)
Wendell played pretty quickly at Wisconsin after racking up 16 sacks in final year of high school.

13 Donte Stallworth Saints Grant (Sacramento, Calif.)
Next year, Donte's prep teammate, Onterrio Smith, the running back from Oregon, could be a first-rounder, too.

14 Jeremy Shockey Giants Ada (Okla.)
Jeremy comes from the winningest prep program ever in Oklahoma and one of top 10 nationally with 680 wins since 1917.

15 Albert Haynesworth Titans Hartsville (S.C.)
This description of Albert appeared in Student Sports' 1998 Football Preview issue: "Great size and speed combination, already looks like a future NFL player."

16 William Green Browns Holy Spirit (N.J.)
Launched by Student Sports Inc. following the Nike Camp held at Penn State in 1998.

17 Phillip Buchanon Raiders Lehigh (Fort Myers, Fla.)
Called a sleeper when he attended the Student Sports Inc. Nike Camp in 1998, Buchanan quickly moved to the forefront once he landed in Coral Gables.

18 T.J. Duckett Falcons Loy Norrix (Kalamazoo, Mich.)
Another 1998 Nike Camp star, Duckett was called the top defensive recruit in the nation but switched mostly to running back at Michigan State.

19 Ashley Lelie Broncos Radford (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Another Hawaiian, offensive lineman Toniu Fonoti, almost went in the first round, but was the seventh pick of the second.

20 Javon Walker Packers St. Thomas More (Lafayette, La.)
You could say Javon's a good leaper. He was a second-place finisher at the Louisiana state track meet in his class in both the long jump and triple jump.

21 Daniel Graham Patriots Thomas Jefferson (Denver, Colo.)
Father, Tom, still holds University of Oregon tackles record and is a former Bronco.

22 Bryan Thomas Jets Minor (Birmingham, Ala.)
Bryan is a great story in how he went from being academically ineligible as a freshman to being on the UAB honor roll twice.

23 Nate Harris Raiders Harvey (Thornton, Ill.)
Prep teammate of Antwan Randle El and from the high school that is now No. 1 in the nation for having the most former players currently in the NFL.

24 Edward Reed Ravens Destrahan (La.)
Terrific athlete as a prep who went past 24 feet in long jump and knocked down 20 ppg in basketball.

25 Charles Grant Saints Miller County (Colquitt, Ga.)
Became well-known after junior season at Miller County when 6-3, 230-pounder rushed for 2,000 yards and scored 31 TDs.

26 Lito Sheppard Eagles Raines (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Lito has been on the radar screen for a long time. He returned four picks for TDs as a junior at Raines.

27 Mike Rumph 49ers Atlantic (Delray Beach, Fla.)
As a prep, Mike placed in the Florida state track meet in the triple jump and was clocked at 4.47 in the 40.

28 Jerramy Stevens Seahawks River Ridge (Olympia, Wash.)
Versatile athlete ran the 300 hurdles in track as a prep and was a standout on the basketball court.

29 Marc Colombo Bears Bridgewater-Raynham (Mass.)
We love linemen who can hoop it up and Colombo did in high school, keying team to league championship.

30 Kendall Simmons Steelers Ripley (Miss.)
Kendall also played baseball and basketball at Ripley and was chosen for Mississippi-Alabama all-star game in football.

31 Robert Thomas Rams Imperial (Calif.)
Who says players from small schools never make it? Robert now could be on his way to being one of the best small school players ever from California.

32 Patrick Ramsey Redskins Ruston (La.)
Patrick's No. 1 national ranking in the javelin as a prep naturally reminds us of another Louisiana quarterback with the same resume.......Terry Bradshaw.

State-By-State Standings: 4 -- California; 3 -- Florida; 2 -- Texas; 2 -- South Carolina; 2 -- New Jersey; 2 -- Louisiana.

California also finished with seven of the first 42 picks as RB DeShaun Foster (Tustin) went at No. 34 of the second round to Carolina, DB Lamont Thompson (El Cerrito) went at No. 41 to Cincinnati and DT Larry Tripplett (Westchester, L.A.) went at No. 42 to Washington.