Zach Randolph
#50
At 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds, Z-bo played with a flair seldom seen from a big man and won over even opposing fans with his larger-than-life personality. Randolph’s four-year career at MHS culminated with the Giants’ seventh boys’ basketball state championship and provided the springboard to a long and successful NBA career.
Overcoming an impoverished background, Randolph always was driven to excel on the basketball court. As a sophomore, he led the Giants to a runner-up finish in the 1998 Class 4A state tournament. His junior season was cut short, but he came back as a senior and propelled the Giants to a 28-1 season and the 2000 4A state title.
In the championship game with Bloomington North, Randolph outplayed future NBA players Jared Jeffries and Sean May, but he would lose out to Jeffries for the Indiana Mr. Basketball award. The 2000 Indiana All-Star, though, won MVP honors in the McDonald’s All American Game and made the Parade Magazine and USA Today All-America first teams.
Randolph scored 1,607 points for the Giants and also collected more than 1,000 rebounds. He nearly opted for the NBA out of high school but instead fulfilled a promise to his mother, Mae, and attended Michigan State University for one year, where he helped the Spartans advance to the NCAA Final Four.
The Portland Trail Blazers selected a 19-year-old Randolph in the first round of the 2001 NBA draft. By 2014, Randolph had played in two NBA All-Star games while a member of the Memphis Grizzlies. Randolph is well known for his philanthropy in Marion and Memphis.