Kansas Basketball: 15 greatest scorers in Jayhawks history

Greatest scorers in Kansas basketball history: 7. Wayne Hightower

Wayne Hightower was a versatile 6-foot-8 forward who was KU’s biggest star after the Wilt Chamberlain era. He followed Wilt’s footsteps by only spending two years in college too, but they were extremely productive.

As a sophomore playing in his first year for the varsity team, Hightower averaged 21.8 points and 10.1 rebounds per game, leading Kansas to a conference championship and Sweet 16 berth.

His size and athleticism continued to be a problem for teams to handle down low when he returned for his junior season, which saw him average another double-double for the season (20.7 points, 11.6 rebounds per game).

The Jayhawks missed the NCAA Tournament that year and Hightower opted to leave school a year early to play for Real Madrid in Spain.

Hightower dominated there, leading the Spanish League in scoring and leading Real Madrid to a spot in the EuroLeague title game before being drafted No. 5 overall in the 1962 NBA Draft by the then-Philadelphia Warriors, where he was teamed with Chamberlain.

Hightower only ended up being a middling professional player who had more success with the Denver Nuggets in the ABA than anywhere he did in the NBA, but his collegiate career remains one of the best in school history. He is third all time at Kansas with 21.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per-game averages.