Basketball Hall of Fame

Considered one of the greatest multi-sport high school athletes in area history during his career at Peoria High School, Rhea Taylor became a college basketball star at Arizona State University. Although his long-term prospects might have been brightest in football, a nagging injury led him to focus on basketball after graduating from PHS in 1968. He starred two years for Robert Morris College, making the all-tournament team at the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament. His performance led to a scholarship at Arizona State, where he cracked the starting lineup in his third game and never left. Rhea averaged 13 points and 7 rebounds as a junior, 14 points and 8 rebounds as a senior. He won the team “Spark Plug” award as a junior and was named captain his senior season. As a senior, Rhea also was named the Sun Devils’ MVP. In high school, Rhea was all-conference for two years in baseball, basketball and football, all-state in the latter two. As a senior, he was named third-team football All-American by Parade Magazine.