Kansas Basketball: 15 greatest scorers in Jayhawks history
By Brian Rauf
Greatest scorers in Kansas basketball history: 1. Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt only played two seasons for the Jayhawks, yet in those seasons, he put up what is still the top two scoring averages in Kansas history.
Wilt Chamberlain was relegated to the freshman team when he stepped on campus but quickly announced his presence, scoring 42 points in a scrimmage against the varsity then. The next year, once he was on the varsity squad, Chamberlain set single-game school records with 52 points and 31 rebounds in his debut. He ended up averaging 29.6 points per game.
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Wilt upped his scoring average to 30.1 points per game at a junior, despite opponents trying to mitigate his impact by playing stall ball (these were the days before the shot clock) and triple-teaming him to force him to pass.
How important was he? The Jayhawks lost all three games he missed due to a urinary infection, causing them to finish second in the Big Seven and miss the NCAA Tournament (only conference champions made it back then).
Chamberlain finished his career with 1,433 points (still 25th in school history) and averaged 29.9 points per game, which is a school record (his 18.3 rebounds per game are, too). He continued his dominance to become one of the best players in NBA history, where he once averaged over 50 points per game in a season and scored 100 points in a single game.
Next. Kansas Basketball: All-time starting five. dark
Those may be the feats he is best known for, but Wilt Chamberlain is known in Lawrence as the best scorer in Jayhawks history.