Editor’s note: Who is the best athlete to come out of your school or community?
That is the question we want to answer in the coming months about the various communities in the Lower Hudson Valley. Each community and school has its own story – one that sparks pride and of course debate among those who saw them. And stories to be told to those who didn’t.
Sports intern George Caratzas got us started on this path over the summer, studying the vast athletic history of Mount Vernon. Check out the athletes and vote in our poll below. We look forward to doing this in communities throughout Westchester, Rockland and Putnam over the next little while. If you have suggestions, don’t hesitate to email me at pstrum@gannett.com – Phil Strum, local sports editor.
The Lower Hudson Valley has a strong high school sports scene.
But there is a serious argument to be made that no school has produced the level of athletic excellence as Mount Vernon.
NBA players, Olympians. World Series champions. Countless collegiate standouts. The Knights have produced a plethora of talent.
As we look on the school’s athletic history, here are 16 of the best to come out of Mount Vernon High School.
Rai Benjamin, track and field
Rai Benjamin was a high school standout for Mount Vernon, and before becoming a two-time Olympian, claimed three NYSPHSAA championships in the 400-meter hurdles and won the 2015 New Balance national 400-meter hurdles. He went on to run collegiately at UCLA before transferring to USC in 2017. Across his three-year college career (2016-2018), Benjamin racked up eight NCAA All-American selections.
In 2020, Benjamin took home silver in the 400-meter hurdles at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, representing the United States, before claiming gold at the 2024 Games in Paris. In all, his Olympic resume includes three gold medals and one silver medal. Earlier this year, he was awarded the key to the city of Mount Vernon in a ceremony held at Memorial Field.
“Rai was just a tremendous student-athlete,” Mount Vernon athletic director Bob Cimmino said. “When he was walking in the hallway in between classes, you couldn’t tell that he was a star. Very modest young man, and once he got out on the track, he was an absolute star, absolute monster. He brought greatness to his team, his school, and his city.”
Ralph Branca, baseball
Ralph Branca comes with the caveat of predating the current iteration of Mount Vernon High School. A graduate of A.B. Davis High School, which eventually merged with Edison Tech to form Mount Vernon, Branca played baseball and basketball at NYU before making his major league debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1944.
Branca is most known for serving up the “Shot Heard Round the World,” which was Bobby Thomson’s walk-off home run to send the rival New York Giants to the 1951 World Series. However, he also carved out a strong MLB career for himself, getting named to three All-Star teams. In 1947, Branca won 21 games and led the league in games started with 36. He was also a key figure in Jackie Robinson’s career.
Ken Singleton, baseball
A 1965 graduate of Mount Vernon High School, Ken Singleton grew up in the same house as Branca during his youth on Seneca Avenue in Mount Vernon. After being picked third overall by the Mets in 1967, Singleton bounced from New York to Montreal before eventually being traded to the Baltimore Orioles, where he enjoyed his best seasons. In 1979, Singleton smashed 35 home runs and drove in 111 runs, while finishing second in American League MVP balloting. He won a World Series with the Orioles in 1983. He finished his career as a .282 hitter with 246 career home runs.
Following the completion of his playing career, Singleton kickstarted a career in the broadcast booth. He worked for the YES Network, MSG, and WPIX, calling Yankees games from 1997 through his retirement in 2021.
Ben Gordon, boys basketball
Born in the U.K., Ben Gordon moved to Mount Vernon at a young age and excelled on the court. He helped the Knights to a state title in 2000 and was seen as a prized recruit, eventually landing at UConn.
“I don’t care what the weather was, if it was hot in the summertime or freezing and snowing, he was always outside the gym on his bike before I got there,” Lowes Moore, who coached Gordon throughout his youth, said. “That’s how dedicated he was in regards to being a good person, a good student, and a good athlete.”
At UConn, Gordon excelled. He set a Big East Tournament record with 81 total points in 2004, helping UConn win the National Championship. These accomplishments got him picked third overall in the NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. He won the Sixth Man of the Year Award as a rookie, becoming the first player in league history to do so. Across his career, he posted a .401 three-point shooting percentage. The basketball gymnasium at Mount Vernon High School is named in Gordon’s honor.
Rodney & Scooter McCray, boys basketball
Rodney and Scooter McCray brothers both played college basketball at Louisville upon graduating from Mount Vernon in the late 1970s. In 1980, the Cardinals hoisted the national championship, before Rodney was drafted third overall by the Houston Rockets in 1983.
Rodney, a small forward, was a two-time member of the NBA All-Defensive team. Across 10 seasons in the league, he averaged 11.7 points per game and nearly seven rebounds per game. He totaled over 9,000 career points and became an NBA champion in 1993 with the Bulls.
Scooter had a short career of his own, playing three seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both McCray brothers have their numbers retired at Mount Vernon High School.
Earl Tatum, boys basketball
Standing six feet, five inches as a shooting guard, Earl Tatum was the New York State Sportswriters Association’s selection for large-school player of the year in 1972. After graduating from Mount Vernon High School, he played college ball at Marquette before getting drafted in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Lakers.
Tatum played in the NBA for four seasons, donning the jersey of four different teams. He averaged 13.6 points during the 1977 playoffs, the only postseason performance of his career. His number 34 is retired by the Knights.
Lowell Robinson, football
A defensive back who graduated from Mount Vernon in the early 2000s, Robinson went on to play college football at Pittsburgh, finding success in the special teams department. In 2006, Robinson led the Big East Conference in average yards per kick return while returning a kickoff for a touchdown. The following season, he grabbed his only career interception and forced a fumble.
“[Robinson] personally impacted my love for Knights football,” current Mount Vernon football head coach Mark Murray said. “Lowell Robinson’s impact on Knights football is still felt now on my current team because I make sure they know who he is and the impact for MV Knights football.”
Gus & Ray Williams, boys basketball
Coming from a family that bled basketball, brothers Gus and Ray Williams both went on to play in the NBA after graduating from Mount Vernon in the 70s. Gus was even cut from the school’s varsity team as a junior, before going on to star at USC. Following three years in California, he was drafted in the second round of the NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors. In his first season, he finished second in Rookie of the Year voting and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. Across an 11-year professional career, Williams was named to a pair of All-Star teams and won an NBA title in 1979 with the SuperSonics.
The younger of the two, Ray played at Minnesota after a stint at a junior college. He was taken higher than his brother, being selected 10th overall in the 1977 draft by the Knicks. In 10 seasons in the NBA, Williams averaged 15.5 points per game and was named the Knicks’ team captain in the 1980-1981 season. Williams appeared in five different NBA playoffs, but fell short of an NBA title in 1985, losing in the finals.
Ray passed away in 2013 at age 58 after battling colon cancer. Gus died earlier this year at age 71. Both brothers have their numbers retired by Mount Vernon High School.
Lowes Moore, boys basketball
Another entry in the Mount Vernon-to-NBA pipeline, Moore graduated from the city’s high school in 1976 and played collegiately at West Virginia. He was drafted in 1980 by the New Jersey Nets and played three seasons in the NBA, with three different teams. Additionally, Moore played for the Billings Volcanos and the Albany Patroons in the CBA from 1981 to 1992.
Upon his retirement, Moore began coaching, serving as an assistant coach at Mount Vernon from 2000-2005. He is also the executive director of the Mount Vernon Boys and Girls Club, where he mentored Ben Gordon, among others.
Moore’s number 12 is retired by Mount Vernon High School.
Patrice Wallace-Moore, girls basketball
Wallace-Moore was a Knight from 1977 to 1981 before going to play at Fairfield University. She then served as a coach for the girls’ basketball program at Mount Vernon High School from 2000 to 2013.
Wallace-Moore married Lowes Moore and is now the CEO of Arms Acres, a substance abuse treatment program. She is one of three players to have their number 12 hung in the gym.
Katryna Gaither, girls basketball
Gaither, like Wallace-Moore, is honored at Mount Vernon High School with her number 12 hanging in the gym. Upon graduating, she was a star on the court at Notre Dame. She owns the fourth-most points in school history and is one of five players to ever score 2,000 points for the Irish. Gaither led the Big East Conference in points per game twice, averaging 16.6 for her four-year college career.
A center, Gaither went on to get a cup of tea in the WNBA, playing parts of three seasons.
Marsha Blount, girls basketball
Blount attended Queens College from 1981 to 1986, serving as the captain of the women’s basketball team after graduating from Mount Vernon.
After finishing her college career, Blount entered the business side of sports.
“Marsha is the President of the Women’s American Basketball Association; she is the founder and president of that,” Wallace-Moore said. “She was also the first female to own a men’s professional team in the American Basketball Association. She is really somebody that paved the way for women’s basketball.”
Her number 11 is retired by Mount Vernon High School.
Bucky Smith, wrestling
Smith enrolled at Morgan State in 1976, after graduating from Mount Vernon. In college, he was a four-time conference champion and a four-time Division II All-American. He was selected as an alternate for the 1980 Olympics, but did not participate as part of the Olympic Boycott that year.
Smith was inducted into the Morgan State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016 and the Section One Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2008.
Tony Crawford, wrestling
Crawford was a high school star for the Knights, beating future Olympic gold medalist Ed Banach and eventually going on to win the state championship in 1976, and won a pair of section titles. Crawford was inducted into the Section One Wrestling Hall of Fame, alongside Smith and their former high school coach, Jim Lee, in 2008.
Honorable Mentions: Kevin Jones (Boys Basketball, West Virginia ’12), Isaiah Cousins (Boys Basketball, Oklahoma ’16), Demetre Roberts (Boys Basketball, Fairleigh Dickinson ’23), Taylor Palmer (Girls Basketball, West Virginia ’14)
George Caratzas was a sports intern at The Journal News/lohud as part of the SUNY Institute for Local News program. He is a junior, journalism student at Stony Brook University, where he serves as an assistant sports editor at the student-run newspaper, The Statesman.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: These are the best athletes ever from Mount Vernon. Who is the best?
Reporting by George Caratzas, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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