The Man, The Myth, The Legend: Doug McDermott

– Posted by Zurg –

By the end of the college basketball season, Doug McDermott will likely become the eighth member of the 3000-point club.

Seven men in the history of college basketball have scored 3000 points. Let that sink in.

The most recent person to do it was Keydren Clark at St. Peter’s between 2002 and 2006. At just 5’11”, Clark set the NCAA record for most 3-pointers in a career (435), but JJ Redick soon surpassed him. Travis Bader at Oakland University passed both of them this season.

Pete Maravich is the all-time leading scorer with 3,667 points (far ahead of Freeman Williams’ 2^nd place total of 3,249 points). Maravich’s feat is one of the most impressive accomplished in the sport, as he played only three varsity seasons at LSU (freshmen were prohibited from playing at the varsity level at that time) and the three-point line had not yet been implemented. Dale Brown, former LSU head coach, charted Maravich’s shots and estimated he would have made about 13 threes per game. Even without the outside arch, however, “Pistol Pete” averaged 43.8, 44.2, and 44.5 points in his three seasons.

Doug McDermott currently has 2944 points headed into today’s game versus Georgetown. In order to score 3000 by the end of the regular season (at home on Senior Night), McDermott will need to average 28 points tonight at Georgetown and home against Providence.

Let’s assume, however, that Doug McDermott and his Creighton Bluejays end up making a run through the Big East Tournament and the March Madness bracket. That would leave McDermott with eleven games in his college career. So, where could he potentially end up on the all-time scoring list?

First, let’s assume he continues averaging 26.0 points as he has thus far this season:

Moving into the top 3 all-time would be an incredible feat, but even if McDermott’s Bluejays only end up making the Sweet Sixteen, there is a strong chance Doug can move into the top 5.

Now, what would it take for McDermott to become the all-time leading scorer?

An average of 66 points over his last eleven games might be even more impressive than actually breaking the all-time record. Regardless, this chart just goes to show you how impressive Pete Maravich’s three years at LSU were.

Finally, I want to take a look at how Doug McDermott has performed in the Big East this season.

McDermott is averaging 26.9 points and 6.6 rebounds. Since 1997-98, only eight players have averaged these numbers for an entire season – and zero of them played in a power conference.

In just Big East play, McDermott’s FG% is 54.3%, his 2P% is 57.7%, and his 3P% is 46.2%. All of these numbers are above his season averages, meaning he has actually shot at a higher rate in the Big East than he did in the non-conference.

Only one player since 1997-98 with at least 500 field goal attempts in a season has shooting percentages as high as Doug McDermott.

Do you want to guess who that player is? I’ll give the answer after you take a look at Doug’s absurd shooting chart so far during the Big East season:

So… who is the only player since 1997-98 with at least 500 field goal attempts in a season with shooting percentages as high as 2013-14 Doug McDermott?

That would be 2012-13 Doug McDermott. The kid is a freak – and we love him.

As always, send us your comments below or tweet us @BEandBeyond!