5 All-time Leading Scorers in SEC Men's Basketball History

Other than Kentucky there are not many SEC teams that constantly produce great men's basketball teams. The SEC is not without their great scorers though. In fact, the lack of great teams can lead to more high scorers oddly enough. While most of the contenders in the NCAA have well-rounded teams with a lot of contributing parts the SEC teams that are not college basketball powers are forced to rely on one outstanding player to do a lot of the heavy lifting. That leads to one player racking up a lot of points over their four year career. Case in point, Kentucky is the best program in the SEC but they do not have one of the highest scoring players in SEC men's basketball history.

5) Ernie Grunfield, Tennessee Volunteers
Ernie Grunfield is currently known for being the general manager of the Washington Wizards but in the 70's Grunfield was dominating the SEC with his teammate Bernard King as part of the "Ernie and Bernie Show". In his sophomore through senior seasons Grunfield posted season averages of 23.8, 25.3 and 23.8 points per game. At the time Grunfield was the Tennessee Volunteers all-time leader in scoring.

4) Chuck Person, Auburn Tigers
One player that still holds his team's record in scoring is Chuck Person. Chuck Person was an unusual type of player, a big man that could shoot from three point range. When Chuck Person arrived at Auburn he teamed up with Charles Barkley to lead the Tigers to their first NCAA Tournament appearance. After Barkley graduated Chuck Person became the leader of the team. Person scored 22.5 points per game his junior season then 21.5 points his senior season and led Auburn to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances and upsets over Kansas, Purdue and St. John's.

3) John Stroud, Ole Miss Rebels
Ole Miss hasn't had a lot of success in men's basketball so it says a lot about John Stroud that he was a two time All-American. Only two players in Rebels history have accomplished that feat. Stroud led the SEC in scoring in 1979 (26.3 points per game) and 1980 (25.2 points per game) and finished his career with 2,328 career points.

2) Allan Houston, Tennessee Volunteers
To most NBA fans Allan Houston has the dubious distinction of receiving one of the worst contracts in NBA history but it's at least a little bit easier to understand when you consider that in college he was the second leading scorer in the history of his conference. Despite his large contract in the NBA Houston was considered one of the deadliest three point shooters in both college and the NBA.

1) Pete Maravich, LSU Tigers
In his very first game as a college basketball player Pete Maravich scored 50 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and threw in 11 assists for good measure. Maravich would go on to become the all-time leader in scoring in NCAA history and he could have scored a lot more if it wasn't for two deterrents. At the time the NCAA did not allow freshmen to play so Maravich's scoring record was reached in just three seasons. Also, there was no three point line during Maravich's era. Once it was calculated how many points Maravich would have averaged if there was a three point line. It was decided that Maravich would have made about 13 three pointers per game if they had existed and it would raise his points per game average from 44 points per game to 57 points per game. If Maravich averaged 57 points per game and played four seasons instead of three his points total for his career would have been 6,136 points instead of 3,667.

Sources:
2010-2011 SEC Men's Basketball Media Guide, SECSports.com

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