The most efficient stat collectors in UK history

Since Anthony Davis is filling up the stat sheet every night, I wanted to see what the best statistical seasons were.  I calculated this one by simply adding all the positive stats (points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots) and dividing by minutes played.  

Some issues here:
1) There are more advanced measures out there (taking into account pace, etc.)
2) Before 1979-80, no steals or blocked shots stats are available
3) Before 1962, no minutes played data are available


So we'll have to look at it by era.


Since 1980:

1) Demarcus Cousins 2009-10 = 1.223 stats per minute.  29th best scoring year in UK history and 8th best rebounding.

2) Jamal Mashburn 1992-93 = 1.071 per minute.  8th best scoring year in UK history.


3) Jamal Mashburn 1991-92 = 1.010 per minute. 3rd best scoring year in UK history.


4) Randolph Morris 2006-07 = 1.006 per minute.  9th best blocked shots year in UK history.

5) Anthony Davis 2011-12 = 0.996 per minute.  Already the #1 shot blocking season in UK history.

6) Kenny Walker 1984-85 = 0.993 per minute.  9th best scoring year in UK history.






1962-79:


1) Dan Issel 1969-70 = 1.299 per minute.  Top scoring season, 9th best rebounding season.  Achieved highest per-minute stat collecting rate without even having steals or blocked shots accounted for.


2) Dan Issel 1968-69 = 1.106 per minute.  4th best scoring, 6th best rebounding season.


3) Cotton Nash 1963-64 = 0.989 per minute.  13th in points, 22nd in rebounds.


4) Kevin Grevey 1974-75 = 0.974 per minute.  5th in points.


5) Jim Andrews 1971-72 = 0.971 per minute.  22nd in points, 24th in rebounds.






Prior to 1962:

Because there are no data for minutes played, I won't bother to list these numerically.  But the top three, in some order, would be:

Bill Spivey 1950-51
Cliff Hagan 1951-52
Cliff Hagan 1953-54

Among other websites consulted, one of my main sources for this and many other posts is the peerless UK resource (and probably the best site of its kind for any sports team) known as "The Kentucky Basketball Statistics Project" operated by Jon Scott.  Available at http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/statistics/statistics.html 

Who are the top scorers in Kentucky basketball history?

Here are the top ten cumulative scorers in UK history:

1) DAN ISSEL - 2138

2) KENNY WALKER - 2080

3) JACK GIVENS - 2038

4) KEITH BOGANS - 1923

5) TONY DELK - 1890

6) JAMAL MASHBURN - 1843

7) KEVIN GREVEY - 1801

8) TAYSHAUN PRINCE - 1775

9) COTTON NASH - 1770

10) ALEX GROZA - 1744


And the top ten per-game AVERAGES:

 1) DAN ISSEL (1st in total scoring) - 25.8 points per game from 1967-68 through 1969-70 (only played 3 seasons)


2) COTTON NASH (9th in total scoring) - 22.7 points per game from 1961-62 through 1963-64 (only played 3 seasons)

3) KEVIN GREVEY (7th in total scoring) - 21.4 points per game from 1972-73 through 1974-75 (only played 3 seasons)


4) BOB BURROW (56th in total scoring) - 20.1 points per game from 1954-55 through 1955-56 (only played 2 seasons)

5) JAMAL MURRAY (102nd in total scoring) - 20.0 points per game in 2015-2016 (only played 1 season)


6) LOUIE DAMPIER (12th in total scoring) - 19.7 points per game from 1964-65 through 1966-67 (only played 3 seasons)

7) BILL SPIVEY (39th in total scoring) - 19.3 points per game from 1949-50 through 1950-51 (only played 2 seasons)

8) CLIFF HAGAN (17th in total scoring) - 19.2 points per game from 1950-51 through 1953-54 (only played 3 seasons)

9) JAMAL MASHBURN (6th in total scoring) - 18.8 points per game from 1990-91 through 1992-93 (only played 3 seasons)

10) MIKE CASEY (14th in total scoring) - 18.7 points per game from 1967-68 through 1970-71 (only played 3 seasons)

Interestingly, there has been a shift in the scoring trends at UK lately.  Notice that eight of the top ten scoring averages are from before 1980?

Only four players since 1980 have finished their UK careers with an average of 17 points per game or higher:

Rex Chapman (17.6 ppg)

Jamal Mashburn (18.8 ppg)

Brandon Knight (17.3 ppg)

Jamal Murray (20.0 ppg)

In spite of the trend since 1980 of lower "star" scoring averages for UK teams, we might see the second player in two years to break into the top 10 - Malik Monk!

What are the best jersey numbers in UK basketball history?

Here are what I consider to be the top jersey numbers in UK men's basketball.

#44 - One 2000-point scorer (Dan Issel), Three 1000-point scorers (Cotton Nash, Chuck Hayes, Bill Lickert)


#34 - One 2000-point scorer (Kenny Walker), Three 1000-point scorers (Mike Casey, John Pelphrey, Scott Padgett)

#12 - Four 1000-point scorers (Ralph Beard, Deron Feldhaus, Rodrick Rhodes, Tom Parker)


#15 - Three 1000-point scorers (Alex Groza, Ed Davender, Jeff Sheppard) plus DeMarcus Cousins (575)


#10 - Three 1000-point scorers (Louie Dampier, Keith Bogans, Dirk Minniefield) plus James Blackmon (866)


#4 - Three 1000-point scorers (Kyle Macy, Gerald Fitch, Derrick Miller) plus Rajon Rondo (654)

#3 - Three 1000-point scorers (Rex Chapman, Ramel Bradley, Terrence Jones) plus Allen Edwards (819)

#20 - Three 1000-point scorers (Jimmy Dan Conner, Jim Master, Doron Lamb)

#21 - One 2000-point scorer (Jack Givens), one 1000-point scorer (Tayshaun Prince)


Then there are a lot of jerseys with two 1000-point scorers each:

#24 - Johnny Cox, Jamal Mashburn...plus Antoine Walker (806), Kelenna Azubuike (970)

#25 - Winston Bennett, Jim Line...plus Anthony Epps (811)

#32 - Joe Crawford, Derrick Hord...plus Jared Prickett (998), James Lee (996), Richie Farmer (898)

#33 - Ron Mercer, Randolph Morris

#35 - Kevin Grevey, Reggie Hanson...plus future AD C.M. Newton

#42 - Pat Riley, Jamaal Magloire

#54 - Melvin Turpin, Patrick Patterson

#55 - Mike Phillips, Jim Andrews

And some other solid numbers with only one...

#6 - Cliff Hagan

#22 - Only Mike Pratt reached 1000, but Patrick Sparks (714) and Alex Poythress (966) wore the number too

#23 - Only Jodie Meeks reached 1000, but Derek Anderson (674), Anthony Davis (567) and Jamal Murray (720) wore the number too

#27 - Wallace Jones

#30 - Only Frank Ramsey reached 1000, but Julius Randle (599) wore the number too

#31 - Only Sam Bowie reached 1000, but good ol' Joe B. Hall also wore it (never scored in 3 games)

#50 - Only Bob Burrow reached 1000, but Marquis Estill (936) wore the number too

#52 - Vernon Hatton

#53 - Rick Robey

#77 - Bill Spivey