Chuck Landon: Huntington is West Virginia's basketball capital

The stately governor's mansion sits in Charleston with a picturesque view of the Kanawha River.

But is Charleston also the Capital City of West Virginia hoops?

No way.

That distinction is located right here in River City.

Just consider Huntington's all-time basketball roster.

The starting lineup would be:

• Hal Greer -- The 6-foot-2 guard was one of the NBA's all-time greats. He played in 1,122 games in 15 seasons, averaging 19.2 points, five rebounds and four assists for his career. Greer, who averaged 19.4 points and 10.8 rebounds during his collegiate career at Marshall, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.
• Leo Byrd -- The 6-1 guard led Huntington High to the 1955 state championship, scoring 48, 49 and 31 points in three state tournament games. He averaged a state-record 34.2 points in '55. Then, at Marshall, Byrd became a first-team All-American in 1959, after averaging a school-record 29.3 points.
• O.J. Mayo -- The 6-5 guard was the No. 3 overall pick in the recent NBA Draft by Minnesota. Then, Mayo was traded to Memphis in a block-buster trade. After leaving Huntington to play prep basketball in Cincinnati, Mayo returned to lead Huntington High to the 2006-07 Class AAA state championship.
• Bill Walker -- The skywalking 6-6 forward was Mayo's teammate throughout all but one of their high school seasons, piling up numerous All-American accolades. After two seasons at Kansas State, he declared for the 2008 NBA Draft and was selected by the world champion Boston Celtics in the second round.
• Patrick Patterson -- The 6-8 power forward/center led Huntington High to three consecutive state championships during 2004-07, also winning state Player of the Year honors. As a true freshman at the University of Kentucky last season, Patterson averaged 16.4 points and 7.7 rebounds.

Impressive, huh? But wait. There's more.

Coming off the bench in the backcourt would be Bill Toothman, who starred on Marshall's 1946-47 NAIB national championship team and was a second-team All-American, and 6-5 David Wade, who was a three-year regular at Marshall.

The first sub up front would be 6-7 Huntington High leaper Michael Price (he was Bill Walker before there was a Bill Walker). And backing up Patterson in the pivot would be 6-8 Larry Watson, who was a regular at Marshall.

Now, that's a strong roster.

But I do have to give Charleston credit. Now defunct Charleston High could field an impressive team, as well. Consider a starting lineup of Hot Rod Hundley, Mark Workman, Dean Blake (he starred at Virginia Tech), Mike Jones and Chris Smith (he also starred for the Hokies).

The Mountain Lions also could have Curt Price, Levi Phillips, Deacon Harris and Greg Dennis coming off the bench.

South Charleston also fields a strong all-time starting lineup of Cebe Price, Paul Underwood, Gary Gregor, Buzzy Harrison and Gay Elmore.

But I don't think either of those Kanawha County cities are even the second-best state hoops capital contestant.

Instead, the runner-up distinction goes to none other than. ... Mullens.

The little Wyoming County town produced Mike D'Antoni, Willie Akers, Danny D'Antoni, Jerome Anderson, Greg White, Herbie Brooks, Mike Anderson and Shawn Finney.

But even that roster can't compete with Huntington's.

That's why the state's hoops capital is located right here.

Chuck Landon is a sports columnist for The Herald-Dispatch. Call him at 526-2827. E-mail him at clandon@herald-dispatch.com.