Best Game Ever: JJ Redick had 43 points in state title game

Dan Woike asked NBA players to tell us about the best game in their basketball career. This week: JJ Redick

March 16, 2002: Cave Spring 70, George Wythe 62

43 points (AAA Virginia state championship game)

On the cusp of being one of college basketball’s most polarizing players — a nice way of saying people hated him — JJ Redick turned in a performance that stands out more than any he had at Duke. He’s had great games as a pro and made huge shots for Orlando, Milwaukee, the Clippers, Philadelphia and, now, New Orleans. Redick scored 40 points in a game while holding hold James Harden to 20. But none of those games had high enough stakes for it to be his best game ever.

“The best game I’ve ever played, given the stakes because we all know how important high school basketball is, was the state championship my senior year. I was playing on a bum foot, I had torn the attachment to my plantar fascia and had 43 points. I hit a bunch of threes. I can’t even remember if it was eight or nine (Note: He made eight). But I had 43 and we won the state championship. It was at Liberty University, about an hour and change from Cave Spring. We played George Wythe. They were, I think, 29-1 going into the game. And we had a sparkling record of 18-10. We played a national schedule that year ... and we took some Ls early. When the playoffs started we were 9-10 and we ended up winning the state championship.”

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