Benjamin High School junior put up 48 points in playoff win Tuesday night.
Grayson Rigdon of
Benjamin (Texas) is having a historical high school basketball season. The 5-foot-10 junior leads the nation in scoring at 46.9 points per game and is coming off a 48-point performance in the bi-district round of the Class 1A state playoffs Tuesday night.
According to high school sports historian Kevin Askeland, Rigdon's 46.9 points per game is the 15th-highest scoring average in the history of high school basketball and fourth-best over the past 20 years. Barring a major shooting slump down the stretch, his season average will surpass the likes of Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain, who averaged 44.4 points in 1954-55 at
Overbrook (Philadelphia).
Other current and former NBA players who averaged at least 40 points per game in a high school season include Monta Ellis, Al Jefferson, Luke Kennard, DaJuan Wagner and Trae Young.
See the complete list of top 25 scoring averages in high school basketball history below.
Grayson Rigdon takes aim on another bucket during last year's Class 1A state semifinals. (Photo: Robbie Rakestraw)
Rigdon is on pace to finish the season with the highest average in Texas history. Greg Powell of
Shelbyville is the leader after putting up 45.3 points per game in 1967-68.
Also a football star, Rigdon has put up at least 37 points in every game this season. On Feb. 6 against Northside, he put up a career-high 72 points and made 29 of his 36 shot attempts.
According to statistics submitted to MaxPreps, he pulled off a rare quadruple-double in late December in a 90-40 win over Newcastle with 45 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals.
Rigdon spent his freshman year at
Strawn, where he averaged 29.5 points per game to lead the Greyhounds to the Class 1A regional quarterfinals. He made the move to Benjamin as a sophomore and put up 40.7 points per game, pushing the Mustangs to the state semifinals.
On the gridiron, Rigdon has never lost a game, going 45-0 with three 6-man state titles. He has accounted for 158 touchdowns the past two seasons. As a sophomore, he also competed in track and field where he participated in long jump, triple jump and relay races.
Rigdon and Benjamin meet
Hermleigh in the second round of the Class 1A state tournament Thursday.
Scoring in bunches
Top 25 season scoring averages in high school basketball history.
55.6 – Finnell White, Lowcountry Academy (Charleston, S.C.), 1987-88
54.0 – Bobby Joe Douglas,
Marion (La.), 1979-80
53.7 – Ervin Stepp,
Phelps (Ky.), 1979-80
52.4 – Johnny Benjamin, Central Florida Academy (Orlando, Fla.), 1987-88
50.9 – Bennie Fuller,
Arkansas School for the Deaf (Little Rock, Ark.), 1970-71
50.4 – Kent Hyde, Onida (S.D.), 1953-54
50.0 – Joseph Girard III,
Glens Falls (N.Y.), 2017-18
49.8 – Steve Farquhar, Calvary Baptist Christian (N.J.), 1984-85
49.4 – Bjorn Broman,
Lakeview Christian Academy (Duluth, Minn.), 2014-15
48.6 – Joseph Girard III, Glens Falls, 2018-19
47.7 – Tom McMillan,
Mansfield (Pa.), 1969-70
47.4 – Ochiel Swaby,
North Miami (Fla.), 1990-91
47.3 – Steve Blehm,
Devils Lake School for the Deaf (Devils Lake, N.D.), 1970-71
47.2 – Ervin Stepp, Phelps, 1978-79
46.8 – Kelly Coleman, Wayland (Ky.), 1955-56
46.7 – Greg Procell,
Ebarb (Noble, La.), 1969-70
46.3 – Robert Whisenant, Ryan (Joppa, Ala.), 1969-70
46.0 – Larry Stidman,
Mount Ida (Ark.), 1988-89
45.7 – Mike Fisher,
Southwestern Academy (San Marino, Calif.), 1990-91
45.3 – Greg Powell,
Shelbyville (Texas), 1967-68
45.2 – Larry Huston, Savannah (Ohio), 1954-55
45.1 – Tommy Murr,
Lindsay Lane Christian Academy (Athens, Ala.), 2018-19
45.0 – Truitt Weldon, Mount Carmel (La.), 1957-58
44.9 – Bennie Fuller, Arkansas School for the Deaf, 1969-70
