Greatest scorers in NCAA college basketball history

Few players have generated more highlights this season than Marquette's Markus Howard. The senior point guard is leading the nation in scoring at 25.8 points per game, and has already dropped 30 points or more five times. Howard was especially unstoppable November 29, when he went off for 51 points in just 32 minutes against USC. It was the third 50-point game of his career, and he's likely not done yet.

As impressive as Howard's production has been, he still has a long way to go before he's considered one of the top scorers in college basketball history. Here are the five big-time bucket-getters he's chasing.

5. Hershey Hawkins (Bradley)

Hershey Hawkins had the greenest of green lights during the 1987-88 season, when he averaged 36.3 points per game for Bradley. But unlike many high-volume scorers, the two-time MVC Player of the Year wasn't an unrepentant chucker. Hawkins connected on an impressive 52% of his attempts from the floor and 39% from three-point range, and also chipped in 7.8 rebounds per contest. "Hawk" went on to enjoy a fruitful 13-year career in the NBA, where he finished 10th in league history with 1,226 three-point field goals.

4. Rick Barry (Miami)

Modern basketball fans may only remember Rick Barry for being a crotchety old man in an ill-fitting toupee, but back in the 60s and 70s he was one of the most lethal scorers in the world. The so-called "Miami Greyhound" averaged 37.4 points per game for the Hurricanes in 1964-65, and he did it while hoisting up hundreds of glorious granny shots from the free-throw line. Barry scored 50 points or more five times during his senior season and is the only player in basketball history to win scoring titles in the NCAA, ABA and NBA.

3. Johnny Neuman (Ole Miss)

Neuman’s name might not be familiar to younger fans, but it should be. The sweet-shooting swingman averaged 40.1 points per game during his first—and only—season at Ole Miss in 1970-71. The legend known as “Johnny Reb” recorded a pair of 60-point games and earned All-American honors before he ditched Oxford for a lengthy career in the ABA and NBA.

2. Freeman Williams (Portland State)

Portland State may not be a basketball powerhouse, but it did produce one of the top scorers in NCAA history in the late 1970s, when Freeman Williams led the nation in buckets in back-to-back seasons. The silky-smooth shooting guard averaged 38.8 points in 1976-77 and finished his illustrious career as the second all-time scorer in Division I history.

1. Pete Maravich (LSU)

Was there ever any doubt that Pete Maravich would claim the top spot on our list? “Pistol” led the nation in scoring for three straight seasons from 1967-70 and set an all-time NCAA record in his senior year, when he chipped in 44.5 points per game for the Tigers. Even now that number looks like a misprint, especially when you consider Maravich played prior to the three-point era and routinely faced triple teams every time he stepped on the court. The Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, native wrapped up his collegiate career as the most prolific scorer in college basketball history and still holds more than a dozen NCAAB records.

Honorable mentions

Jimmer Fredette (BYU), Kevin Bradshaw (U.S. International), Bo Kimble (Loyola Marymount), Billy McGill (Utah), Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati), Frank Selvy (Furman)