For us older cats who played high school ball in NYC in the 90s, that mythical nikka you described was a guy by the name of Frankie Sinclair, a running back who played for Abraham Lincoln High School. Yes, the same Lincoln High that produced Stephon Marbury and Lance Stephenson, and if I'm recalling correctly, he was there with Steph.
He graduated I believe 2 years before I did. High school football back then in NYC garnered literally no buzz on either the local or national stage, and the only high school football players known by middle schoolers were their relatives, yet I entered high school knowing this dude's name, the school he played for, and that quite a few big time colleges were interested in him. All before I took my first high school class or even put on shoulder pads and a helmet for the first time. And I lived nowhere near Coney Island to put how big his legend was into perspective.
His name still rings bells to this day with the guys who played in that era. I guess every state, city, town, and district has their own version of Saba and Sinclair.