Hairston Fayette County’s all-time leading scorer
James Hairston ranks as the all-time leading scorer in Fayette County basketball history. It is a distinction that he is very proud of.
无毛视频淚t feels great,无毛视频� Hairston said. 无毛视频淚 think it was a great accomplishment for myself personally. A lot of people don无毛视频檛 understand how big that is. Me personally I think it无毛视频檚 pretty awesome and know that Fayette County had a lot of great athletes. I无毛视频檓 pretty stoked about that.无毛视频�
Hairston was a scoring dynamo on some outstanding teams at Connellsville High School in the early 2000无毛视频檚. A starter since his freshman year, Hairston was on Falcon squads that finished 18-8 in 2000-2001, 9-15 in 2001-02, 24-2 in 2002-03 and 26-4 in 2003-04. Connellsville lost to Penn Hills, 59-50, in the WPIAL semifinals in 2002-03, and fell to Chartiers Valley in the WPIAL finals, 57-47, in 2003-04.
无毛视频淢y sophomore year we weren无毛视频檛 getting over the hump,无毛视频� Hairston recalled. 无毛视频淢y junior and senior years I think we all came together and became a real, real good unit. We didn无毛视频檛 have a lot of great guys, but I think everybody played their part.
无毛视频淚 really give it up to the Coach Nick Bosnic, he knew what he was doing and he put guys in certain situations where they could succeed in certain things. I think that was a big part of us winning.无毛视频�
At 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds Hairston possessed great leaping ability 无毛视频� his nickname was 无毛视频淔lights无毛视频� 无毛视频� and he played everything for Connellsville from point guard to center.
无毛视频淢y freshman year I was young and just running,无毛视频� Hairston said. 无毛视频淚 didn无毛视频檛 understand as much, my sophomore year it became more of a role I had to play. My junior and my senior seasons I think I just came to the point where I was able to play a lot of positions, and also what helped me was just playing outside a lot. I had AAU that I played also, when I was a freshman I was playing AAU. My development came from just playing a lot and getting on to the AAU circuit. It helped me to become more structured during basketball season.无毛视频�
Hairston is the all-time leading scorer at Connellsville and sits on top of the Fayette County scoring parade with 2,245 points.
无毛视频淎 lot of people would say that I was a slasher, that I would always get to the rim,无毛视频� Hairston offered. 无毛视频淚 was able to get out and run on the fast break. I was a slasher, but I was also able to become a point guard. I kind of enjoyed being a point guard because I knew at the next level that I would be a point guard.无毛视频�
The loss to Chartiers Valley in the WPIAL championship game is in the back of Hairston无毛视频檚 mind to this day.
无毛视频淚 can remember every game that I played,无毛视频� Hairston stated. 无毛视频淭he two losses in the WPIAL Tournament in 2002-03 in the semis and the 2003-04 in the title game, that was tough. My senior year at the Palumbo Center for the WPIAL championship, I remember that game specifically. Looking back I thought we were going to be able to get that victory. In the beginning we never thought we were going to get that far. The paper was always doubting us and the Pittsburgh area teams doubted us. I think it was a great experience for us. All of the guys on the team will always remember that game even though we did lose. It was the biggest stage that we ever got to play on.无毛视频�
Hairston captured some hardware during his playing days with the Falcons. He was named All-Section three years in a row, named to the Post-Gazette Fabulous 5 team in 2003 and 2004, a two-time WPIAL All-Star. He was second team All-State his junior and senior seasons.
无毛视频淚 think it无毛视频檚 pretty cool what I was able to accomplish,无毛视频� Hairston said. 无毛视频淚 have a lot of plaques at home and a lot of little trophies that I won. I get to actually look at those a little bit and see what I did. I never really sat back and thought of all my accomplishments, but I think it无毛视频檚 great that I got to do all that.无毛视频�
Several colleges pursued Hairston when he graduated from Connellsville in 2004, but he wound up attending Allegany Community College in Maryland for two years.
无毛视频淚t was a last-minute decision,无毛视频� Hairston explained. 无毛视频淚 had a couple looks out of high school. It wasn无毛视频檛 like I knew about Allegany, but Coach Bosnic knew more because he played at Maryland, he knew about it and by going there it gave me an opportunity to pull things together as far as my career.无毛视频�
In two seasons at Allegany CC Hairston averaged 14 points per game and 7 rebounds per game. And played on two outstanding teams.
无毛视频淚 think my freshman year at Allegany it was the best team that I ever played on,无毛视频� Hairston said. 无毛视频淚 started at the point guard position there.无毛视频�
Hairston transferred to California University of Pennsylvania for his final two seasons. In 2006-07 the Vulcans posted a 24-7 record and Hairston averaged 8.6 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per game. In 2007-08, the Vulcans finished 28-6 and Hairston averaged 9.4 points per game and 2.9 rebounds per game.
无毛视频淢y first year at Cal everybody that was recruited were JUCO players,无毛视频� Hairston recalled. 无毛视频淲e had an edge, we were experienced. I played the point at Cal and played a good all-around game. I did what I needed to do. I was a team player. Coach Bill Brown was a great influence, he is like a brother to me and I remain close to him to this day.无毛视频�
Hairston played two seasons with the semi-pro Pittsburgh Phantoms. He returned to school at California University of Pennsylvania. He is finishing up in criminal justice and wants to be a juvenile probation officer. He interned with the DA无毛视频檚 office in Uniontown and a juvenile counselor at Adelphoi Village in Connellsville.
Now 29, Hairston resides in Uniontown. He has a five year-old daughter, Brinly.
George Von Benko无毛视频檚 无毛视频淢emory Lane无毛视频� column appears in Monday editions of the 无毛视频-Standard. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.