Top High School Basketball Scorers of All Time

They scored more points in high school than anyone.

Top High School Basketball Scorers of All Time

Basketball scorers start young. These prodigies are so unique that when we catch them early on, it's always more special than if we discover them with the rest of the masses. That means getting to see them play in high school.

Some players are just a flash in the pan. Others achieve college stardom. And for a chosen few, the path leads to pro basketball riches. All of them are in an elite club — the greatest scorers in high school basketball history.

Note: We only considered point totals accumulated between ninth to 12th grade. Some states allow players on the high school varsity when they're still in junior high school. We also kept the rankings to players who could have their point totals verified through multiple sources.

30. Fred Johnson — 3,552 Points

High school: Wellsville-Middletown High School (Wellsville, Missouri)

Years: 1983-86

Height: 6-foot-4

Position: Forward

College: Missouri State

Bottom line: Fred Johnson led Wellsville-Middletown High to a Class 1 state runner-up finish in 1986, when he averaged 29.6 points for his career and broke the Missouri career scoring record as a senior, averaging 32.1 points.

Johnson went on to become a junior college All-American at powerhouse Three Rivers Community College in 1987, then signed with Missouri State, which was known as Southwest Missouri State.

Johnson's talent didn't translate well to big-time college basketball. He averaged 1.7 points and 1.5 rebounds in two seasons at Missouri State.

29. Harry Todd — 3,555 Points

High school: Earlington High School (Earlington, Kentucky)

Years: 1955-58

Height: 6-foot-8

Position: Center

College: Western Kentucky

Bottom line: Harry Todd was a rare three-time All-State selection in Kentucky and named the state's Mr. Basketball as a senior in 1958, when he averaged 30 points and 20 rebounds.

Todd, at 6-foot-8, stayed dominant on the glass at the college level, when he led Western Kentucky in rebounding for three straight seasons and finished his career in the school's top 10 for rebounds.

He went on to have a lengthy career in the military before going into the ministry, where he was still serving in rural Kentucky as recently as 2020.

28. Robert Parish — 3,562 Points

High school: Woodlawn High School (Shreveport, Louisiana)

Years: 1969-72

Height: 7-foot-1

Position: Center

College: Centenary

Bottom line: Hall of Fame center Robert Parish first gained his iconic No. 00 as a high schooler — simply because he was the last to show up to get jerseys.

Parish was as dominant a center to ever play high school basketball, anywhere, and actually played for Union High before it closed because of desegregation, and he was forced to go to Woodlawn High.

Parish led Woodlawn to the 1972 Class AAAA state championship and was named an All-American but turned his back on big-time college basketball to play for Centenary, where he was an All-American before winning four NBA championships.

27. Coby White — 3,573 Points

High school: Greenfield School (Wilson, North Carolina)

Years: 2015-18

Height: 6-foot-5

Position: Guard

College: North Carolina

Bottom line: Coby White was one of the nation's top recruits at Greenfield School in 2018, when he set the state's career scoring record and was named North Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year.

White only played one season of college basketball at the University of North Carolina, where he was an All-ACC pick before declaring for the NBA draft. He was the No. 7 overall pick by the Chicago Bulls in 2019.

White was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 2020.

26. Tom McMillen — 3,608 Points

High school: Mansfield High School (Mansfield, Pennsylvania)

Years: 1967-70

Height: 6-foot-11

Position: Center

College: Maryland

Bottom line: Tom McMillen was a sensation as a high school star in Pennsylvania, making it all the way to the cover of Sports Illustrated, which called him "the best high school basketball player in America" when he was named National Player of the Year in 1970.

McMillen's life ended up being about much more than basketball, although he was a two-time All-American at Maryland, the No. 9 overall pick in the 1974 NBA draft, and played almost a decade of professional basketball.

He was also a Rhodes Scholar, served four terms as a U.S. Congressman and was the chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports from 1993 to 1997.

25. Mike Cronk — 3,624 Points

High school: Walter Northway School (Northway, Alaska)

Years: 1984-87

Height: 6-foot-4

Position: Guard

College: Alaska-Fairbanks

Bottom line: Mike Cronk has become much more well-known for his heroics during the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas during the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival, in which 60 people were killed and hundreds more injured by a gunman. Cronk carried his friend, who had been shot in the chest, to safety.

Cronk was a high school basketball star at tiny Northway School in Alaska in the 1980s, where he averaged over 30 points and 20 rebounds per game for his entire career.

Cronk stayed in Alaska and was a college star at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. He led the Nanooks to their first appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament in 1989.

24. Lance Weems — 3,660 Points

High school: Clay County High School (Ashland, Alabama)

Years: 1989-92

Height: 6-foot-3

Position: Guard

College: Auburn

Bottom line: One of the greatest players in Alabama high school basketball history, Lance Weems played for his father, Jerry Weems, at Clay County High and won back-to-back state championships and back-to-back Class B Player of the Year honors.

Weems was ahead of the game when it came to the offensive end, which was obvious during his college career at Auburn.

Weems' records for career 3-pointers and single-season 3-pointers stayed in place for 23 years until they were broken by Bryce Brown in 2019.

23. Keiton Page — 3,709 Points

High school: Pawnee High School (Pawnee, Oklahoma)

Years: 2004-08

Height: 5-foot-9

Position: Guard

College: Oklahoma State

Bottom line: Few college basketball watching experiences in recent memory have been as satisfying as watching 5-foot-9 former Pawnee High star Keiton Page dice up defenses for Oklahoma State for four seasons.

Despite his size, Page was one of the most highly recruited players in Oklahoma high school history after winning two Class 2A state championships.

Page also delivered in the Big 12. He finished his career No. 10 on OSU's career scoring list with 1,651 points.

22. Teddy Dupay — 3,744 Points

High school: Mariner High School (Cape Coral, Florida)

Years: 1994-98

Height: 5-foot-10

Position: Guard

College: Florida

Bottom line: One of the more enigmatic big-time college basketball players of the late 1990s, Teddy Dupay was a big-time high school basketball star at Mariner High and won Florida's Mr. Basketball in 1998, which was part of a decade-long stretch that included Vince Carter, Amar'e Stoudemire and NFL quarterback Adrian McPherson also winning the award.

Dupay, a McDonald's All-American, averaged 41.5 points as a senior at Mariner High and once scored 29 points in the final five minutes of a game to lead his team to a come-from-behind win.

At the University of Florida, he was eventually thrown out of school over allegations he bet on games he played in.

21. Rotnei Clarke — 3,758 Points

High school: Verdigris High School (Claremore, Oklahoma)

Years: 2005-08

Height: 6-foot

Position: Guard

College: Arkansas and Butler

Bottom line: Verdigris High's Rotnei Clarke and Pawnee High's Keiton Page went back-and-forth in the battle for the Oklahoma state career scoring record as seniors in 2007-08, with Clarke getting the record and the first state championship in school history, as the state championship game was played in front of 13,000 fans.

Clarke continued to light it up in college. He set school and SEC records at the University of Arkansas with 51 points and 13 3-pointers in a season-opening win over Alcorn State in 2009.

Clarke transferred to Butler for his final collegiate season and led the team in scoring as a senior. He's played professional basketball overseas since 2013 and was the Australian National Basketball League MVP in 2014.

20. Calvin Gerke — 3,823 Points

High school: Snook High School (Snook, Texas)

Years: 1962-66

Height: 6-foot-5

Position: Center

College: Unknown

Bottom line: Calvin Gerke was the only starter on his high school team over 5-foot-10 and capped his career by leading Snook to a 52-0 record and Class A state championship in 1965-66.

It was the 78th consecutive win for Snook and part of a 90-game winning streak. Gerke's 35 points in the state championship game are still the Class A record.

Gerke stated he hoped to play for Texas A&M in college, but the only record available shows he signed with Sam Houston State.

19. A.J. Nastasi — 3,833 Points

High school: Northern Bedford High School (Loysburg, Pennsylvania)

Years: 1995-98

Height: 5-foot-10

Position: Guard

College: West Virginia (football)

Bottom line: Northern Bedford High's A.J. Nastasi broke Tom McMillen's 28-year-old state career scoring record in 1998, when he averaged 40.0 points per game as a senior.

Our research shows us that Nastasi is the only player on this list who ended up playing Division I in a different sport other than basketball.

He played wide receiver for West Virginia and led the Mountaineers and was third in the Big East with 42 receptions as a junior in 2001.

18. Steve Blehm — 3,859 Points

High school: North Dakota School for the Deaf (Devils Lake, North Dakota)

Years: 1970-73

Height: 5-foot-11

Position: Guard

College: Gallaudet University

Bottom line: North Dakota School for the Deaf's Steve Blehm ended his career by averaging a then-national record 41.5 points for his career, including an 85-point game as a senior.

Blehm, who lost his hearing by using a now-banned medication for ear infections as a child, went on to play for NCAA Division III Gallaudet University. There, he was the team MVP in 1976 and 1977.

He also won a gold medal at the World Deaf Games in Romania in 1978.

17. Jim Montgomery — 4,013 Points

High school: Kittrell High School (Readyville, Tennessee)

Years: 1960-63

Height: 6-foot-4

Position: Guard

College: Auburn

Bottom line: Possibly the greatest pure shooter on this list, who knows how high Kittrell High's Jim "Monk" Montgomery could have seen his point total rise if he'd played in the era of the 3-point line — or hadn't missed 20 games due to punishment for academics, as he claimed in 1987.

Monk was already famous by the time he left Kittrell High and was poised for college and NBA stardom. He started his first two seasons at Auburn before he was kicked off the team and out of school for drinking alcohol. He never transferred to another school despite offers and owned a bar in Murfreesboro, Tennessee — Monk's — for decades.

Montgomery died in 2004, at 60 years old.

16. John Drew — 4,018 Points

High school: J.F. Shields High School (Beatrice, Alabama)

Years: 1969-72

Height: 6-foot-6

Position: Forward

College: Gardner-Webb

Bottom line: Playing for legendary coach Willie Averett at J.F. Shields High, John Drew led the school to its first state championship in 1972 before going on to star at Gardner-Webb, where he was an All-American in 1974.

That's where Drew's career becomes one of basketball's cautionary tales. The 6-foot-6 forward was picked No. 25 overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1974 NBA draft and made two All-Star teams over the next decade.

Drew had a severe cocaine addiction throughout his career, and after back-to-back cocaine arrests in 1986, he was the first player given the still-in-place, two-year drug ban instituted by NBA commissioner David Stern.

15. Bobby Joe Douglas — 4,070 Points

High school: Marion High School (Marion, Louisiana)

Years: 1977-80

Height: 5-foot-10

Position: Guard

College: Louisiana-Monroe

Bottom line: Critics of Bobby Joe Douglas and his scoring records would be best-served to remember that his main rival in high school and the player he went up against (and sometimes got the best of) the most was Summerfield High forward and future Hall of Famer Karl Malone.

Douglas averaged 54.0 points his senior season at Marion High. He played college basketball at Louisiana-Monroe and was part of the first NCAA tournament team in school history.

He became the head coach at Union Christian Academy in Farmerville, Louisiana, in 2019 and was elected to the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.

14. Derek Smith — 4,098 Points

High school: Atlanta High School (Atlanta, Louisiana)

Years: 1993-96

Height: 6-foot-2

Position: Guard

College: Louisiana Tech

Bottom line: It shouldn't still surprise us when we see these kind of numbers go into the record books, but it always does. Atlanta High went 48-0 on the way to a Class C state championship in 1995-96 behind star guard Derek Smith.

Smith was a three-time All-State selection for Atlanta before going on to play for Louisiana Tech. He averaged in double-digit scoring each of his first three seasons, including a career-high 14.9 points as a sophomore but saw his averages dip to 10.1 points as a junior and 7.0 points as a senior.

13. Robert Woodard — 4,274 Points

High school: Houlka High School (Houlka, Mississippi)

Years: 1982-86

Height: 6-foot-4

Position: Guard

College: Mississippi State

Bottom line: Robert Woodard's explosive scoring at Houlka High School ended up being the opposite of the kind of player he would be in college, where he carved out a career at Mississippi State as a tough-nosed defender who only averaged 4.5 points.

Woodard's son, Robert Woodard II, also went on to star at Mississippi State. Woodard II was selected No. 40 overall in the 2020 NBA draft and averaged 1.5 points in 13 games in his rookie season with the Sacramento Kings.

12. Kelly Coleman — 4,337 Points

High school: Wayland High School (Wayland, Kentucky)

Years: 1953-56

Height: 6-foot-4

Position: Forward

College: Kentucky Wesleyan

Bottom line: Wayland High's Kelly Coleman averaged 46.8 points as a senior and is still the state's career scoring leader by almost 700 points. He also owns state tournament single-game records for points (68) and rebounds (28)

He was ranked the top high school basketball player in the nation in 1956, ahead of future Hall of Famers Jerry West and Oscar Robertson, but was kicked out of West Virginia for taking a car, clothes and money from boosters before he could play a game. Coleman became an All-American at Kentucky Wesleyan and played three years of pro basketball after being picked No. 11 overall in the 1960 NBA draft.

Coleman died in 2019, at 80 years old.

11. Troy House — 4,518 Points

High school: Ingram Tom Moore High School (Ingram, Texas)

Years: 1987-90

Height: 6-foot-1

Position: Guard

College: Texas-San Antonio

Bottom line: Troy House made it into Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" section following his dynamo senior season at Ingram Tom Moore High in 1989-90, when he averaged 40.6 points.

House's prep career was something of an oddity. He played for three different high schools and scored over 60 points four times. His propensity to not stick it out seemed to translate to the college level as well.

He spent one season at Texas-San Antonio and averaged 2.7 points before he left the team.

10. Jeremy Monceaux — 4,555 Points

High school: Parkway Christian Academy (Birmingham, Alabama)

Years: 1999-2002

Height: 6-foot

Position: Guard

College: Liberty

Bottom line: Jeremy Monceaux was a high school legend for Class 1A Parkway Christian Academy. He held the Alabama state career scoring record for almost 20 years after he graduated in 2002, averaging over 40 points as a sophomore and junior and 36.8 points as a senior.

Monceaux also did something few players on this list seemed interested in — he passed the ball and was just the third player in state history to collect over 1,000 career assists.

Monceaux played college basketball at Liberty, where he averaged a career-high 8.8 points as a freshman and led the Flames to a Big South championship and the NCAA tournament. He's currently the head boys basketball coach at Springville (Alabama) High School.

9. Harold Ray Strother — 4,569 Points

High school: Plainview High School (Glenmora, Louisiana)

Years: 1956-59

Height: 6-foot-4

Position: Guard

College: South Texas Junior College

Bottom line: One of the many players hailing from Louisiana high schools to make this list, Harold Ray Strother was as talented as almost any of those.

Strother's career after lighting up the scorebooks for Plainview High was truly defined by the era. He averaged 26.0 points as a freshman at South Texas Junior College and signed with Texas A&M but never played there.

Instead, he opted to make money and play for the Wilkes-Barre Barons of the Eastern Basketball League and averaged 16.0 points over two seasons. When he was finally eligible, he was drafted by the NBA's St. Louis Hawks in 1963 but never played for them.

Strother died in 1984, at 44 years old.

8. Anders Broman — 4,616 Points

High school: Lakeview Christian Academy (Duluth, Minnesota)

Years: 2009-13

Height: 6-foot-2

Position: Guard

College: South Dakota State and Winthrop

Bottom line: Anders Broman was the first of two siblings to light up the Minnesota state basketball record books with younger brother Bjorn Broman following directly behind him.

Anders Broman averaged 47.3 points his senior season and played his first two college basketball seasons at South Dakota State before transferring to Winthrop.

He played his final two years of college basketball in a backcourt alongside Bjorn Broman and averaged a career-high 12.4 points as a senior in 2017-18.

7. Todd Briley — 4,730 Points

High school: Midland High School (Crowley, Louisiana)

Years: 1992-95

Height: 6-foot

Position: Guard

College: McNeese State

Bottom line: Todd Briley was a two-time Class B Player of the Year for Midland High School, where he averaged 33.6 points as a senior in 1994-95.

Like many players on this list, Briley wasn't close to the same type of scorer in college. He averaged 6.5 points for his career at McNeese State, including a career-high 9.2 points as a senior.

Briley returned to Midland as its head boys basketball coach in 2004, led them to a state runner-up finish in 2010 and a state championship in 2014. Briley resigned after winning the state title to become Midland's principal.

6. Joe Girard III — 4,763 Points

High school: Glens Falls High School (Glens Falls, New York)

Years: 2015-19

Height: 6-foot-1

Position: Guard

College: Syracuse

Bottom line: Joe Girard still had a full season of high school basketball to play when he broke future NBA player Lance Stephenson's New York high school record as a junior in 2018.

Girard averaged 48.6 points as a senior and led Glen Falls High to its first state championship. He also led the school to two state championships in football, where he was a highly recruited quarterback.

Girard helped lead Syracuse to the Sweet 16 as a sophomore in 2021 and has averaged 11.2 points through his first two seasons.

5. Tommy Murr — 4,874 Points

High school: Lindsay Lane Christian Academy (Athens, Alabama)

Years: 2017-20

Height: 6-foot-1

Position: Guard

College: Lipscomb

Bottom line: Tommy Murr averaged over 40 points per game his last two seasons, both times leading the nation in scoring while playing for his father, Steve Murr, at Lindsay Lane Christian Academy.

Murr also set the Alabama single-season scoring record in both seasons and averaged 31.6 points for his career. He also set what's believed to be a national record with 1,226 career made free throws.

Murr averaged 3.5 points as a freshman for Lipscomb in 2020-21.

4. Bennie Fuller — 4,896 Points

High school: Arkansas School for the Deaf (Little Rock, Arkansas)

Years: 1968-71

Height: 6-foot

Position: Guard

College: Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Bottom line: Bennie Fuller averaged 50.9 points his senior season for Little Rock's Arkansas School for the Deaf, becoming an international hero to hearing-impaired athletes.

As a senior in 1971, Fuller scored 102 points in a single game. He also had games of 98, 77 and 65 points while playing for Houston Nutt Sr., the father of future Division I football coach Houston Nutt.

Fuller played college basketball for Pensacola Junior College, then Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

3. Jackie Moreland — 5,030 Points

High school: Minden High School (Minden, Louisiana)

Years: 1953-56

Height: 6-foot-7

Position: Forward

College: Louisiana Tech

Bottom line: Minden High's Jackie Moreland, a 6-foot-7 guard/forward, was one of the most highly recruited players in the country in the 1950s — a recruitment that saw almost every school he visited end up getting nailed for recruiting violations.

Moreland's college career hit a snag when he was declared ineligible at North Carolina State for taking cash and benefits, but starred at Louisiana Tech before he played a decade in the NBA and ABA.

Moreland died of pancreatic cancer in 1971, at just 33 years old.

2. Bruce Williams — 5,367 Points

High school: Florien High School (Florien, Louisiana)

Years: 1976-80

Height: 6-foot-5

Position: Center

College: Louisiana-Monroe

Bottom line: Bruce Williams could score like few players in high school basketball history but also benefited from zero limits on how many games his team could play.

What's unique about Williams is that not only is he the No. 2 scorer in high school basketball history, but he's also No. 1 with 3,059 career rebounds.

Williams still holds the national single-season record with 1,139 rebounds as a senior in 1979-80, the same season teammate Huey Scott set the national single-season record with 748 assists.

Williams had a respectable college career at Louisiana-Monroe but far from his high school exploits, as he averaged 9.2 points and 4.0 rebounds from 1980 to 1984.

1. Greg Procell — 6,702 Points

High school: Ebarb High School (Noble, Louisiana)

Years: 1967-70

Height: 5-foot-11

Position: Guard

College: Northwestern State

Bottom line: This is one record that probably won't ever be broken, but there is a question if perhaps, in the future, Greg Procell's national high school scoring record should come with some sort of disclaimer — Noble-Ebarb High reportedly played almost 80 games during Procell's senior season.

Procell also set the national single-season scoring record as a senior in 1969-70 with 3,173 points as he averaged 47.6 points.

One thing a lengthy schedule couldn't do is pump up Procell's single-game totals. He scored 100 points in a 139-79 win over Elizabeth High on Jan. 29, 1970.

Procell's college career was a bit of an odyssey, as he signed with Louisiana-Lafayette, transferred to Panola Junior College, then ended his career at Northwestern State.