Playing at a Class 3A school in Texas, Shaquille O'Neal, at 6-foot-11, dominated the competition in the late 1980s. Besides leading
Cole (San Antonio, Texas) to a 68-1 record and a state championship in 1989, O'Neal reportedly averaged 11 blocked shots a game.
O'Neal is one of several former NBA players found on the latest addition to the MaxPreps National High School Boys Basketball Record Book. The list of single-season blocked shots includes Alonzo Mourning of
Indian River (Chesapeake, Va.), Al Jefferson of
Prentiss (Miss.), and Othella Harrington of
Murrah (Jackson, Miss.).
MaxPreps National High School Boys Basketball Record Book: Single-season blocks
While research has been unable to determine the exact number of O'Neal's blocked shots during his senior year, we do know his average (which was reported by Parade Magazine) was 11 blocks per game. Multiply that average times the 36 games Cole played in 1989 and you have 396 blocked shots.
Normally, we would not include extrapolated data along with reported factual totals. However O'Neal's performance was so incredible, it needed to be included among the known all-time leaders. Stats for Jefferson, Mourning and Harrington were also extrapolated and included, noting their blocked shot average along with the number of games played. The totals for those four players are estimates.
None of the four NBA standouts, however, are anywhere close to the single-season leaders best performance. For that matter, they aren't close to his second-best performance. William Lee of
Dallas County (Plantersville, Ala.) dominated the defensive end of the court his junior year 2012-13, blocking a whopping 505 shots while earning all-state honors.
As a sophomore, Lee blocked 402 shots, which ranks second. Lee makes the list a third time, posting 241 blocked shots as a senior. Lee is the only player in high school history to block over 400 shots in a season, let alone 500.
Angelo Chol of
Hoover (San Diego) and Darnell Robinson of
Emery (Emeryville, Calif.) each make the list four times.
The list is compiled using the National Federation of High Schools record book along with MaxPreps leaderboards, Doug Huff's basketball record book, state association record books and the Cal-Hi Sports Record Book.
Additions or corrections? Contact kevinaskeland65@gmail.com
