Ben “Benji” Wilson was the number one high school basketball player in America when he was shot on South Vincennes Avenue outside Simeon Vocational High School in November 1984. Ronnie Fields was Kevin Garnett’s teammate at Farragut Career Academy and Illinois Mr. Basketball before a broken neck and an admissions letter ended his college career. Billy “The Kid” Harris was, by many accounts, the purest scorer Chicago ever produced, and he played seventy-six professional games. This is the documented record on all three, sourced from court filings, contemporaneous reporting, and university archives.
Covered in this video: the Illinois Appellate Court record in People v. Moore and what trial testimony from Jetun Rush actually established about the confrontation involving William “Billy” Moore and Omar Dixon; the two-hour wait at St. Bernard Hospital, the negligence suit filed by Mary Wilson through attorney Jeffrey Goldberg, and why the 1992 settlement admitted no liability; Bob Gibbons and the camp evaluation behind the number one ranking; Harold Washington at the vigil; the retirement of number twenty-five at Simeon and its later use by Nick Anderson, Derrick Rose, Juwan Howard, and Jabari Parker; Kendrick Nunn and the Simeon pipeline; the ESPN 30 for 30 by Coodie Simmons and Chike Ozah.
On Ronnie Fields: the Farragut season alongside Kevin Garnett, his Sports Illustrated statistical profile, the unverified fifty-inch vertical, Joey Meyer’s assessment, Dave Kaplan’s comparison, the First Team All-USA selection with Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O’Neal, DePaul spokesman Scott Reid’s on-record explanation of the July 1996 rejection, and the sixteen-year professional career that followed. He now coaches at Chicago Hope Academy.
On Billy Harris: Dunbar Vocational, Northern Illinois University, the upset of Bob Knight’s Indiana team, Red Auerbach’s scouting visit, the 1973 Chicago Bulls draft selection and release, his public accusations against Dick Motta, Scoop Jackson’s reporting for SLAM and ESPN, Ed Curry’s recollection, the Sylvester Monroe and Peter Goldman book, and his daughter Deanese Williams-Harris.
Systemic context includes Anthony Davis and Doc Rivers on Chicago’s output, Proposition 48 and the objections raised by John Thompson, John Chaney, and Dick Vitale, plus the documented cases of Arthur Agee and William Gates at Gene Pingatore’s St. Joseph High School (the program that produced Isiah Thomas), Thomas Hamilton and Rashard Griffith at King High School, and Patrick Beverley’s route through Europe. The Magic Johnson comparison applied to Wilson is addressed as a projection, not a certainty.
Frequently asked questions
Was Benji Wilson killed over a girlfriend? No. The jury convicted on murder and attempted armed robbery. Trial testimony described a robbery attempt that escalated. Moore has since disputed the robbery finding publicly, and that disagreement remains unresolved.
Did hospital negligence kill Benji Wilson? Not established. The family’s suit settled in March 1992 with no admission of liability and no finding of fault.
Why didn’t Ronnie Fields play for DePaul? The university cited failure to meet its own admissions standards and NCAA initial eligibility requirements. The rejection came five months after his car accident.
Did Billy Harris play in the NBA? No. He was drafted by the Bulls in the seventh round in 1973, released in preseason, and played one ABA season with the San Diego Conquistadors.
Sources
Court and official records: People v. Moore, 229 Ill.App.3d 66, 593 N.E.2d 771 (Ill. App. 1st Dist. 1992); UPI Archives, November 21 1984, May 7 1985, March 25 1992, and July 22 1996; Basketball-Reference; Northern Illinois University Athletics Hall of Fame; Basketball Museum of Illinois; U.S. Office of Justice Programs, “Major Trends in Chicago Homicide: 1965-1994”; NCAA and NCES documentation on Proposition 48 and Proposition 16.
Reporting: ESPN 30 for 30 “Benji” (2012); Scoop Jackson, SLAM (December 1998) and ESPN (January 2010); Sports Illustrated, “Catching Up with Ronnie Fields” (2009); CBS News Chicago; The official site of the NBA for the latest NBA Scores, Stats & News. | NBA.com ; Washington Post (February 27 1996); Sylvester Monroe and Peter Goldman, “Brothers: Black and Poor” (1988); Hoop Dreams (1994).
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