Staff Report

ROCKFORD – After four stellar seasons at East, Chris Burnell’s name is all over the school record book.

He looms pretty large over the entire district as well. Burnell ended up scoring 1,663 points in his East career. Only Auburn great Fred VanVleet, now in his third year with the Toronto Raptors of the NBA, scored more with 1,754.

Burnell also ended up with 439 assists, which is third in Rockford School District history, behind VanVleet’s 682 and Laytwan Porter, also of Auburn, who had 497.

What makes Burnell truly unique is that he played small forward and shooting guard his first two years at East and ended up grabbing 674 rebounds in his career. Only Andre Goode (799) and Steve McNease (762), both of East, have more.

Of course, assist and rebound records come with an asterisk. There are few records before 1990. It’s highly likely players such as Jefferson’s Mike Johnson, West’s Nolden Gentry and East’s Skip Thoren would rank high on the rebounding list if we could find their numbers. West’s Mark Sibley was a three-year starting point guard in the 1960s on some high scoring teams. It’s likely he topped 400 assists.

Still, a career stat line of 1,663 points, 674 rebounds and 439 assists is remarkable.

Burnell wasn’t the only player to crack the all-time lists this year. Sha’Den Clanton ended up with 1,047 points. There was no fanfare when he topped 1,000 because he started out at Guilford. Still, Clanton ranks 33rd all-time in RPS 205 scoring. R.