Dunbar High School NBA players are Reggie Williams, Muggsy Bogues, Sam Cassell, Rod Camphor and David Wingate. Reggie was a 1987 NBA draft pick.
From 1981 to 1983, Dunbar High was one of the greatest high school basketball team ever. They were so merciless in the field of basketball to their opponent that during the seasons in the early ’80s, Coach Bob Wade made 59-0 over two seasons.
Coach Bob Wade, a former NFL player with a strict military code of conduct approached basketball and applied his practice to it. The goal behind the strict training was to improve strength. Focus, endurance, and character of the player.
Bob Wade coached Dunbar High for 10 years from 1975 to 1986. Since 1993, Dunbar High School Poets have accumulated a total of 15 State Championship trophies. Poets were National Champions in 1983, 1985, and 1992.
1. Muggsy Bogues - PG
Tyrone Curtis Muggsy Bogues is one of the prominent NBA drafts from Dunbar High. The Washington Bullets selected him in the 1987 NBA draft.
Muggsy Bogues played basketball from 1987 and retired from playing in 2001. He began his professional career at Rhode Island Gulls in 1987. He played only a single season and left the club due to an ankle injury.
He was drafted 12th overall pick by the Bullets on November 6, 1987, and spent a season there.
From 1988 to 1997, Muggsy was involved with the Charlotte Hornets. Later he joined the Golden State Warriors from 1997 till 1999. He played more than 36 games during his time in the lockout-shortened following season.
He signed the Toronto Raptors at the beginning of 1999 and stayed with them till the end of 2001. Due to a chronic knee injury, he retired after only appearing in three games in 2001.
Besides, Tyrone was able to earn USBL Rookie of the Year and the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award in 1987. His most highlighted award was when he won a gold medal in the FIBA World Championship in 1986.
2. Reggie Williams - SF
Reggie Williams is an NBA draft from Dunbar High School in 1987. He played a total of 10 seasons in the NBA and was also a member of the 1983–84 National Championship team.
Reggie Williams Dunbar team players were ranked first in the nation by USA Today. He studied at Georgetown from 1983 to 1987 where he played as the lead in the Big East in the 1986–87 season and was able to win the Big East Championship.
His professional career began after his fourth pick in the NBA by Los Angeles Clippers. His career lasted till the end of 1997 in basketball. He played basketball for a total of six clubs which are:
| 1987-1989 | Los Angeles Clippers |
| 1989-1990 | Cleveland Cavaliers |
| 1990 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 1991-1996 | Denver Nuggets |
| 1996 | Indiana Pacers |
| 1996-1997 | New Jersey Nets |
He played for a total of 10 seasons in these clubs before retiring.
Williams had a total of 7,508 game points, 2,393 rebounds points, and assists 1,402 before his detachment from basketball.
After retiring he became the coach at Towson Catholic High School in May 2009. Then in 2010, he coached Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington D.C. Later he resigned in 2013.
3. David Wingate - G
David Wingate Jr is rated among the greatest high school basketball player ever. Wingate studied at Dunbar High School Basketball Baltimore.
After the completion of high school, he enrolled in Georgetown University where he joined the Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball. During his play in Georgetown, he shifted from guard-forward to shooting guard position.
He played 15 years in the NBA as a shooting guard and small forward for several franchises. The Philadelphia 76ers inducted Wingate into their roster through the 1986 NBA draft where he was the 44th overall pick.
Matt Guokas, the 76ers roster coach picked him on November 2, 1986. He had his professional career from 1986 till 2001. In his career, he moved from 7 clubs that are given below:
| 1986-1989 | Philadelphia 76ers |
| 1989-1991 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 1991-1992 | Washington Bullets |
| 1992-1995 | Charlotte Hornets |
| 1995-1998 | Seattle Super Sonics |
| 1999-2000 | New York Knicks |
| 2000-2001 | Seattle Super Sonics |
In his long career, he won many awards and earned various achievements. He was the winner of NCAA champion in 1984 and Third-team All-Big East in 1985. He has made about 4,166 game points, 1,376 assists and 1,420 rebounds.
4. Reggie Lewis - SF
Reggie Lewis was a former American professional NBA player for the Boston Celtics. Lewis graduated from Druban High School in Baltimore, Maryland.
He attended high school with former NBA players Muggsy Bogues and David Wingate. Later In 1983, he enrolled himself at Northeastern University in Boston where he played for the college basketball team Northeastern Huskies.
He scored a total of 2,708 points for the Huskies collectively which is still an ongoing record for the university.
Lewis might not have had a long career ahead of him but it was a fruitful and blessed career for him. He was drafted by the NBA in the first round in the 22nd pick. He was selected by the Boston Celtics in 1987. He played Shooting guard and small forward with the jersey number 35.
He played with the Boston Celtics from 1987 to 1993. In the year 1991, he was selected to play in the first NBA All-Star Game.
He won many awards and earned many achievements during his time in the field of basketball. He won ECAC North Player of the Year three times and ECAC North tournament MVP two times.
He had received his retirement without winning a championship with a team due to his sudden demise and his jersey with the number 35 was relinquished by Celtics.
Sadly, at the age of 27, Lewis passed away due to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy while still playing for Boston Celtics.
5. Sam Cassell - G
Sam Cassell is a professional basketball coach and a former NBA point guard. Cassell was a 1987 Dunbar High School basketball alumni
He was selected as a draft for the NBA in 1993 in the 1st round as the 24th overall pick. He started his NBA career playing with the Houston Rockets.
Cassell's professional career spans for fifteen seasons from 1993 to 2009. He earned the NBA All-Star Game one time in 2004 and the All-NBA Team the same year.
In his 16 years as a professional basketball player, he played for 8 clubs in a total of 15 seasons. Now he is acting as the assistant coach for the Boston Celtics.
During his illustrious career, the 6-foot-3 point guard won a total of three NBA championships. He clinched the title with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995 and with the Celtics in 2008.
6. Keith Booth - F
Keith Eugene Booth is an American Basketball coach and former NBA player. He studied at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in 1992.
He was picked by the NBA in 1997 in the 1st round on the 28th overall pick. He played with the Chicago Bulls for two seasons.
After he was drafted by the NBA his career made a huge turn. He played professionally till the end of 2000. He used to play small forward. Keith Booth only played for 3 years. from 1999 to 2000 he played for Baltimore Bay runners.
Booth returned to the Maryland campus where he studied criminal justice and criminology which earned him a Bachelor's Degree in 2003. After his education was completed, he moved back and began to coach for Maryland as an assistant under the wing of Gary Williams.
In 2019, Booth coached Dunbar High School's basketball team as the head coach till February 2021.
7. Bootsy Thornton - G
Marvis Linwood Thornton III aka Bootsy Thornton is an American Professional Basketball player. He was graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School.
He attended a community college Tallahassee CC (1995–1997) and later joined St. John's (1998–2000). He scored 40 points against and seven 3-pointers at Duke while at St. John's.
He was undrafted in the 2000 NBA but he earned selection on All-Euro League Second Team. his professional basketball career began when he signed Oregon Scientific Cantù in 2000. He played till the end of 2014 and retired with Strasbourg IG.
He has won three Italian Cup championships and two Italian Super Cups. He has also won the Turkish President's Cup twice.
8. Rod Camphor - G
Dunbar High School basketball Lexington KY team player Rod Camphor was undrafted in NBA 2014. He is currently associated with AS Karditsas.
He began to play basketball professionally after 2014 when he joined Nevėžis. He played with over 14 clubs in the last 9 years. He has recently been associated with Karditsa from 2022-2023.
Winner of the Slovenian Cup in 2021 and GAC Player of the Year in 2014 are a few of his achievements.
