Valley Boys: Former Staunton basketball players debate the best Shenandoah Valley hoop stars
STAUNTON — When Todd Dunnings asked Chris Lassiter for his all-time starting five in Shenandoah Valley basketball, the Staunton man picked former Waynesboro star Cory Alexander over Harrisonburg's Pee Wee Barber at point guard, and Barber didn't let him off the hook.
"C Lass u left me off the starting 5. that’s cool lol," Barber wrote on the Facebook post.
To which Lassiter said he was going back and forth and, in the end, chose Alexander because he had seen him play in person more.
And that is the kind of debates Dunnings and Darell Crawford are wanting as they ask hoops fans in the area their top 10 players. The videos, available on both Facebook and Youtube (search #valleyboysva), are a lead up to a podcast and eventual documentary called Valley Boys.
It's the brainchild of Crawford, who played high school ball in Staunton before enrolling in Oak Hill Academy. Now living in Chantilly, his heart is still in the Shenandoah Valley. He remembers traveling out of state and telling people he was from Virginia. He'd then be asked if he was from the Tidewater area or Richmond or Northern Virginia. He heard the same thing from other players in the Shenandoah Valley and it bothered him. Crawford knew there was so much talent from this area of the state that people just didn't think about.
He began talking with Dunnings, a former teammate, and the two decided to collaborate on a project. At first, Crawford considered writing a book about the history of Shenandoah Valley basketball, but then settled on a documentary.
"There's some stories in here you would not believe," Dunnings said. "You would not believe what's attached to this documentary. And we don't need to lose that history."
On Sept. 9 at the Staunton Innovation Hub the two will be joined by other former high school basketball players in the area to record a podcast that will also be available on YouTube. They will also begin filming the documentary that night. Before the recording they'll host a meet and greet at 5:30 p.m. at The Clocktower on West Beverley Street.
Among those expected to attend and take part in the video are Barber, Jerry Venable (Booker T Washington), Steve Floyd (Fort Defiance), Tyler Crawford (Lee) and Timmy Woodson (Buffalo Gap).
"We'll be at the ClockTower hanging out, meeting folks, throwing out old war stories or what should have beens, where are they nows, and we'll be there for an hour," said Dunnings. "And that's going to be videoed. Then we'll walk around the corner to the podcast."
Dunnings said the podcast will be available after editing on both YouTube and podcasting apps (again, search #valleyboysva).
The documentary will follow later. A budget of $50,000 has been set for the project, according to Crawford, and he's started a Valley Boys GoFundMe page to help raise funds. He's also talking to small businesses to contribute some funds, and he's putting up some of his own money.
The two men want to make sure the younger generation in this area are aware of the basketball players from the previous generations. They think this project can help keep the names from the past alive.
Crawford brings up a perfect example, someone he wasn't even aware of until he started this project — John Wetzel, who played for Wilson Memorial in the early 1960s. Wetzel went on to play for Virginia Tech before a career in the NBA as both a player and coach.
"He is really grateful that we are even shining a light on him," Crawford said. "He was, like, 'I thought you guys forgot about me.' I said, 'Man, I just found out about you.'"
Crawford and Dunnings hope that this project allows many more basketball fans in this area to find out about players like Wetzel or just enjoy hearing about players they watched growing up.
They also want to continue those debates about the top players in the area. Of course, it's not easy narrowing the list down to 10, much less a starting five. It took Lassiter five minutes to get to five players, and as he named them there was a look of agony on his face. He didn't want to leave anyone deserving off the list.
Finally, he came up with his starting five. In addition to Alexander, he had Harrisonburg's Ralph Sampson, Lee High's Kevin Madden, Fort Defiance's Dell Curry and Booker T. Washington's Jerry Venable.
"We're going to have to make a part two to get to 10," Lassiter said with a laugh.
No one said this was an easy process.
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Patrick Hite is The News Leader's education reporter. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Contact Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter @Patrick_Hite. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Shenandoah Valley basketball: Documentary looks at area hoops' history
