We keep hearing about Caitlin Clark passing the 3,667 college career points by Pete Maravich. Like a broken record.
What no one has been saying, though, is that Pistol Pete averaged 44 points per game for his career. Forty-Four. He did so playing in 83 varsity games for LSU. Caitlin needed 130 games to pass his NCAA record point total and is now averaging 28 points per game for her career.
So, the all-time scorer? Generally, from game to game, from season to season, we only talk averages, whether it’s scoring or rebounding. And, in most basketball circles, 44-28 is a blowout.
Time to re-appreciate the 6-foot-5 showman who dazzled with his ball skills as well as his scoring, truly topping all of college basketball. Injuries cut short Pete’s NBA career as a five-time All-Star with one league scoring championship in his 10 years, and then he suddenly passed away at age 40, succumbing to a previously undetected major heart defect … while playing in a pickup game.
Maravich still stands tallest on college basketball’s all-time list for career scoring average … by a long shot. At 44.2, he’s 10 points per game ahead of second-place Austin Carr of Notre Dame (34.6) (who also was damned fun to watch) and third-place Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati (33.8), followed by Calvin Murphy of Niagara (33.1), Bo Lamar of Louisiana (32.7), Frank Selvy of Furman (32.5) and (someone you may have heard of) seventh-place Rick Mount of Purdue (32.3).
Maravich, Carr, Murphy and Mount all played between 1967 and 1971 -- limited by rule to three years of varsity apiece, based on the wild concept that freshmen needed to study -- during the time Wooden’s teams absolutely dominated the NCAA. It’s an era worth knowing and remembering. The game reached a peak. When giants roamed the earth. And shot the lights out.
The all-time NCAA scoring list -- with four Boilermakers in the top 40 and two Benton Rangers in the top 50 -- at https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/leaders/men/pts-per-g-player-career.html.
What no one has been saying, though, is that Pistol Pete averaged 44 points per game for his career. Forty-Four. He did so playing in 83 varsity games for LSU. Caitlin needed 130 games to pass his NCAA record point total and is now averaging 28 points per game for her career.
So, the all-time scorer? Generally, from game to game, from season to season, we only talk averages, whether it’s scoring or rebounding. And, in most basketball circles, 44-28 is a blowout.
Time to re-appreciate the 6-foot-5 showman who dazzled with his ball skills as well as his scoring, truly topping all of college basketball. Injuries cut short Pete’s NBA career as a five-time All-Star with one league scoring championship in his 10 years, and then he suddenly passed away at age 40, succumbing to a previously undetected major heart defect … while playing in a pickup game.
Maravich still stands tallest on college basketball’s all-time list for career scoring average … by a long shot. At 44.2, he’s 10 points per game ahead of second-place Austin Carr of Notre Dame (34.6) (who also was damned fun to watch) and third-place Oscar Robertson of Cincinnati (33.8), followed by Calvin Murphy of Niagara (33.1), Bo Lamar of Louisiana (32.7), Frank Selvy of Furman (32.5) and (someone you may have heard of) seventh-place Rick Mount of Purdue (32.3).
Maravich, Carr, Murphy and Mount all played between 1967 and 1971 -- limited by rule to three years of varsity apiece, based on the wild concept that freshmen needed to study -- during the time Wooden’s teams absolutely dominated the NCAA. It’s an era worth knowing and remembering. The game reached a peak. When giants roamed the earth. And shot the lights out.
The all-time NCAA scoring list -- with four Boilermakers in the top 40 and two Benton Rangers in the top 50 -- at https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/leaders/men/pts-per-g-player-career.html.