Will Sherron Collins end up being the best guard in KU history?
His career statistics would tell us that it’s a question at least worth asking.
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Here are Collins’ current career stats, courtesy of the KU sports information department:
Games played-Games started 107-41
Points 1,330 (12.4 per game)
FG-FGA 471-1,042 (45.2 percent)
3PT-3PTA 162-426 (38.0 percent)
FTM-FTA 226-288 (78.5 percent)
Rebounds 262 (2.4 per game)
Assists 391 (3.7 per game)
Turnovers 246 (2.3 per game)
Steals 106 (1.0 per game)
Now, just for fun, let’s calculate Collins’ career totals if he put up the exact same statistics this season as he did last season*.
Games played-Games started 142-76
Points 1,991 (14.0 per game)
FG-FGA 697-1,563 (44.6 percent)
3PT-3PTA 239-631 (37.9 percent)
FTM-FTA 358-454 (78.9 percent)
Rebounds 359 (2.5 per game)
Assists 565 (4.0 per game)
Turnovers 361 (2.5 per game)
Steals 145 (1.0 per game)
* — Hey, I know this isn’t totally fair. Collins might be even better this season than he was last season. He might play more games. He might not score as much with more offensive options around him. Still, this is able to give us a rough estimate of where he might end up.
If Collins simply matched his numbers from last year, he would leave KU as its fourth-leading scorer and the top-scoring guard of all-time*.
* — Actually, assuming a 35-game schedule, he needs to average just 14.03 points per game to move past Darnell Valentine’s 1,821 points and become KU’s all-time leading scorer as a guard. Collins, meanwhile, would need to average 19.14 points per game to get to 2,000. And, just for fun, he’d need to average 46.34 points per game to break Danny Manning’s all-time scoring record.
In other words, Danny, I think you’re safe for another year.
Just for argument’s sake, let’s say that KU wins the national championship next year.
If it happened, Collins would have been a major contributor in two NCAA Tournament championships, something no other Jayhawk guard could claim.
Surely, you’d have to bring other folks into the discussion for best-ever guard. Think Bill Hougland, Darnell Valentine, Jacque Vaughn, Paul Pierce (if you want to consider him a guard) and Kirk Hinrich.
But the one name that seems to come up more than any other when you talk about guards in KU history is Jo Jo White.
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Here are Jo Jo’s career KU statistics from basketball-reference.com. Remember, Jo Jo didn’t have the benefit of a three-point line, or his scoring stats would be even better.
Games 84
Points 1,286 (15.3 per game)
FGA-FGM 536-1276 (42.0 percent)
FTM-FTA 214-292 (73.3 percent)
Assists 409 (4.9 per game)
Here, again, are Sherron’s projected career numbers:
Games 142
Points 1,991 (14.0 per game)
FG-FGA 697-1,563 (44.6 percent)
FTM-FTA 358-454 (78.9 percent)
Assists 565 (4.0 per game)
From this comparison, Jo Jo would have the edge in points per game and assists per game, while Collins would be better in field-goal percentage and free-throw percentage.
So, if KU won the title in 2009-10, would you consider Sherron Collins the best guard in KU history?
Make sure to vote in our online poll.
