High school basketball: Grayson Rigdon could threaten all-time career scoring average record

Rigdon averaged 29.5 points over 20 games as a freshman at Strawn (Texas). After transferring to Benjamin, Rigdon scored 855 points in 21 games for an average of 40.7 as a sophomore. Following a 60-point performance in a playoff win Thursday night, He is currently averaging 47.5 points per outing with 904 points in 19 games. That's good for an unofficial career average of 39.1 points per game. He would need to average over 46 points over the course of 25 games between this year and next year to top Blehm's career average. While Blehm's average is the official all-time record, the unofficial record is also an interesting story.

Finnell White of Lowcountry Academy (Charleston, S.C.) lived in Harlem, N.Y., as a freshman in 1986, but according to a story in The State in February of 1988, White moved to South Carolina to live with his grandmother in order to improve his academics and play a little basketball.

As a sophomore at Lowcountry Academy, White led the Charleston area with an average of 34.7 points per game over 16 games. His junior year was even more amazing as he set a national record with an average of 55.6 points per game.

At 5-foot-10, White was not a tall player, however he was described as being well-built and capable of scoring at will. It should be noted that the competition in the South Carolina Independent Schools Association was not stellar in 1988. Lowcountry Academy had a roster that included two girls (the school did not have a girls team) along with a 12-year-old eighth grader. The team also did not have a gym so it played all of its games on the road. White often scored close to 75 percent of his team's points.

In a 102-57 loss to St. John's, White had 50 points. In a 67-61 win over St. Stephen Academy, he had 59 points. In a 90-89 win over Andrews, White posted 79 points, including a 64-foot shot at the end of the first quarter. The following game he had 71 points in an 89-80 win.

While White's exact point total and games played from his senior year is unknown, his career point total of 1,642 points was reported in the The State in March 1988. Subtracting the 555 points he scored as a junior (as reported by the Charleston Courier), White had approximately 1,087 points in 1988. Divide that total by his reported scoring average of 55.6 and you get around 20 games. Thus White scored 1,642 points over an unofficial 36 games for a career average of 45.6 points per game.

White did not play after his junior year because he had turned 18 and the SCISA did not allow players older than 18 to play as seniors. White finished his high school academic career at Burke (Charleston, S.C.), but he did not play basketball as a senior.

The vaguery of White's scoring average is not the reason why it is not included on our list of highest career scoring averages. The fact that White only played 36 games in his career is the sticking point. That total is a single season for some players and a higher minimum number of games is usually a requirement to be included on career lists.

Most of the players on the list below played in the neighborhood of 80 games. Blehm, who holds the record, played 94. Greg Procell, who is No. 9 on the list, played 180. Wilt Chamberlain is probably right at the minimum qualifying criteria with 59 games played.

The list below includes all games played at the varsity level, including those played when the athlete was younger than ninth grade. As a result, this list will differ from a similar list in the National Federation of High Schools record book, which only includes statistics for grades 9-12.

The list includes a number of future NBA players, including Drew, Chamberlain, Tom McMillen, Tracy Murray, Leon Wood and Charlie Vaughn

The list was compiled using information from the NFHS record book, state association record books, the Cal-Hi Sports Record Book by Mark Tennis and Nelson Tennis and MaxPreps leaderboards. Players are listed with the number of games played and total points for their career.

Highest career scoring average

Nos. 1-10
41.1 — Steve Blehm, School for the Deaf (Devils Lake, N.D.), 1970-73 (94/3,859)
41.0 — John Drew, Shields (Beatrice, Ala.), 1969-72 (98/4,018)
40.4 — Ervin Stepp, Phelps (Ky.), 1977-80 (80/3,228)
39.7 — Allen Hornyak, St. John Central (Bellaire, Ohio), 1967-69 (60/2,385)
39.4 — Bennie Fuller, School for the Deaf (Little Rock, Ark.), 1968-71 (124/4,896)
39.0 — Joseph Girard III, Glens Falls (N.Y.), 2015-19 (122/4,763)
38.4 — Mickey Crowe, JFK Prep (St. Nazianz, Wis.), 1972-75 (71/2,724)
37.5 — Steve Farquhar, Calvary Baptist (Lakewood, N.J.), 1983-85 (72/2,701)
37.4 — Wilt Chamberlain, Overbrook (Philadelphia), 1953-55 (59/2,206)
37.2 — Greg Procell, Ebarb (Noble, La.), 1967-70 (180/6,702)

11-21
35.3 — Tom McMillen, Mansfield (Pa.), 1967-70 (102/3,608)
34.6 — Paul Werle, Orrick (Mo.), 1986-88 (73/2,522)
34.4 — Robert Whisenant, Ryan (Joppa, Ala.), 1967-70 (70/2,411)
34.4 — Mark Brown, Hastings (Mich.), 1982-85 (81/2,789)
33.8 — Kelly Coleman, Wayland (Ky.), 1953-56 (128/4,337)
33.7 — Leon Wood, St. Monica (Santa Monica, Calif.), 1977-79 (80/2,693)
33.4 — John Somogyi, St. Peter (New Brunswick, N.J.), 1966-69 (99/3,310)
33.1 — Rod Watson, Westside (Memphis, Tenn.), 1983-85 (103/3,418)
32.6 — Brian Hueblein, Polytechnic (Pasadena, Calif.), 1968-70 (57/1,859)
32.5 — Tracy Murray, Glendora (Calif.), 1986-89 (94/3,053)
32.0 — Charlie Vaughn, Tamms (Ill.), 1954-58 (105/3,358)

Others
45.6 — Finnell White, Lowcountry Academy (Charleston, S.C.), 1986-88 (36/1,642)
43.6 — Qwan Jackson, Lifelong Learning (Milwaukee, Wis.) (40/1,745)
34.8 — Dick Tansey, Vero Beach (Fla.), 1965-67 (43/1,497)