Bo Knew Scoring: USL's Lamar Posted Highest Average For New DI Program

Only three individuals for first-year major-college teams averaged more than 30 ppg in Division I maiden voyage. The trio each achieved the feat in the same season (1971-72) when the nation's top three scorers were Southwestern Louisiana's Dwight "Bo" Lamar (36.3 ppg), Oral Roberts' Richie Fuqua (35.9) and Illinois State's Doug Collins (32.6) set existing school DI records for highest scoring average in a single campaign. Fuqua, a Chattanooga, Tenn., product, nearly caught Lamar by averaging 41.4 points to Lamar's 38.7 in their last 10 outings.

Lamar and fellow junior Ed Ratleff of Long Beach State became the only set of former high school teammates to be named NCAA consensus first-team All-Americans together. USL's 90-83 early-season victory over visiting Long Beach might have been one of the best intersectional matchups few people know about or remember. Lamar and Ratleff attended East High in Columbus, Ohio, where another one of their teammates was Nick Conner, a starter for Illinois. They were seniors on a 1968-69 undefeated high school squad (25-0 record) winning the state AA title and extending its winning streak to 49 games.

Lamar's explosiveness sparked USL to a 25-4 record. He scored 51 points in back-to-back road games (at Louisiana Tech and Lamar) en route to becoming the only player in NCAA history to lead the nation in scoring at both the college and university divisions. Bo also knew how to light up a scoreboard in postseason competition, averaging 29.2 ppg in six NCAA DI Tournament assignments in 1972 and 1973 (eighth best in playoff history/minimum of six contests).

Collins was the star player under Will Robinson, the first black head coach for a predominantly white Division I school. ISU had its first black player before 1920. Oddly, Rich Herrin, Collins' high school coach at Benton (Ill.), never had an opportunity to coach an African-American player in his 29 small-town seasons of high-school coaching before he was hired by Southern Illinois after the 1984-85 campaign, guiding the Salukis for 13 years.

Lamar, who passed away earlier this month at the age of 74, might be the most dynamic player ever for an institution in inaugural year at major-college level. Long-range bomber is the only player ever to lead the nation in scoring in initial campaign for a school at DI level. If there had been a three-point shot at the time, he easily would have averaged more than 40 ppg - probably closer to 45 ppg.

Lamar combined with center Roy Ebron (23 ppg) to comprise the most prolific one-two scoring punch for a first-year DI program in NCAA history. There has been only two other first-year programs boast a pair of players with averages in excess of 20 ppg - Fairfield (swingman Patrick Burke/20.3 and guard Jim Brown/20.2 in 1964-65) and James Madison (forwards Steve Stiepler/20.9 and Pat Dosh/20.3 in 1976-77).

The only individual in the last five decades to average over 25 ppg for school in inaugural year at DI level is Hampton guard Jafonde Williams (25.7 ppg in 1995-96). Only two players averaged more than 20 ppg for a first-year DI program thus far in the 21st Century - Utah Valley guard Ronnie Price (24.3 in 2004-05) and Incarnate Word TX guard Denzel Livingston (20.3 in 2013-14). Following is a list of the 22 players - six of them from HBCU institutions - averaging at least 22 ppg when a school participated in its initial season at major-college level since classification commenced in the late 1940s: