I’m a sucker for sports charts. Throw me a list or leader board and I’ll break it down to the last common denominator or ounce of significance.
I was examining the Tigers’ career scoring leaders the other day and started wondering about how the list might look if the historical playing field were a bit more level. When Larry Finch was a Tiger, freshmen weren’t eligible to play. Until the 1986-87 season, there was no three-point shot in college hoops.
So I played with the numbers. Below are two top-ten lists. The first (actual) is straight from the Tiger media guide: the ten most prolific scorers in Memphis history. The second (adjusted) list is one that does not include freshman scoring totals and subtracts a point for every three-pointer a player made in his career after his freshman season.
The biggest loser in this endeavor is Dexter Reed. Seventh on the scoring chart, Reed scored a third of his points — 551 — as a freshman. The biggest winner? Mike Butler, a Tiger star from the late Sixties.
ACTUAL
1) Keith Lee: 2,408
2) Elliot Perry: 2,209
3) Rodney Carney: 1,901
4) Larry Finch: 1,869
5) Forest Arnold: 1,854
6) Cedric Henderson: 1,697
7) Dexter Reed: 1,678
8) Bill Cook: 1,629
9) Chris Douglas-Roberts: 1,545
10) Kelly Wise: 1,487
- U of M Athletics
- Mike Butler
ADJUSTED
1) Keith Lee: 1,876
2) Larry Finch: 1,869
3) Elliot Perry: 1,695
4) Bill Cook: 1,493
5) Forest Arnold: 1,460
6) Mike Butler: 1,409
7) Rodney Carney: 1,367
8) Kelly Wise: 1,314
9) Cedric Henderson: 1,236
10) Doom Haynes: 1,202
