Honors Court: McCollum Injury Denies Him Becoming Three-Time Patriot League MVP
Guard C.J. McCollum, in what should have been a banner season for him and other mid-major players, gave every indication that he would become Lehigh's first All-American and a three-time Patriot League MVP. But that was before the nation's leading scorer at the time incurred a broken left foot at the turn of the new year. McCollum, a Canton, Ohio, native shunned by Mid-American Conference schools, ranked among the nation's top 10 scorers the past two seasons and has averaged 6.4 rpg in his career. He is a late bloomer similar to his brother Errick McCollum III, who became the all-time leading scorer for Goshen College, an NAIA school in Indiana.
Virginia center Ralph Sampson had the lowest scoring average (17.6 points per game from 1980-81 through 1982-83) among the 29 players during spans in the last 50-plus years when they captured three or four MVP awards in a Division I conference. Sampson's average was 26.6 ppg lower than LSU guard Pete Maravich's NCAA-record mark (44.2 from 1967-68 through 1969-70).
No player from a power conference has achieved the feat since Kansas' Danny Manning in the Big Eight from 1985-86 through 1987-88. Prior to the foot injury, McCollum could have joined the following chronological list of standouts who became player of the year in a DI league three or four seasons since the early 1960s:
| Player | Pos. | School | Conference (Seasons) | MVP Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Lucas | C | Ohio State | Big Ten (1960-62) | Averaged 24.3 ppg and 17.2 rpg while shooting 62.4% from the floor over three-year span. |
| Fred Hetzel | F-C | Davidson | Southern (1963-65) | Averaged 25.7 ppg and 13.8 rpg while shooting 55.4% from the floor over three-year span. |
| Clem Haskins | G-F | Western Kentucky | Ohio Valley (1965-67) | Averaged 22.1 ppg and 10.6 rpg over three-year span. |
| Pete Maravich | G | Louisiana State | Southeastern (1968-70) | Averaged 44.2 ppg, 6.4 rpg and 5.1 apg over three-year span. |
| Gene Phillips | F | Southern Methodist | Southwest (1969-71) | Averaged 26.1 ppg and 7.5 rpg while shooting 81.7% from the free-throw line over three-year span. |
| David Thompson | F | North Carolina State | Atlantic Coast (1973-75) | Averaged 26.8 ppg and 8.1 rpg while shooting 55.3% from the floor over three-year span. |
| Bernard King | F | Tennessee | Southeastern (1975-77) | Averaged 25.8 ppg and 13.2 rpg while shooting 59% from the floor over three-year span. |
| Bill Cartwright | C | San Francisco | West Coast (1977-79) | Averaged 21.5 ppg and 11.5 rpg while shooting 60.4% from the floor over three-year MVP span. |
| Michael Brooks | F | La Salle | East Coast (1978-80) | Averaged 24.1 ppg and 12.5 rpg while shooting 55.4% from the floor over three-year MVP span. |
| Harry Kelly | F | Texas Southern | Southwestern Athletic (1980-83) | Averaged 27.9 ppg and 9.9 rpg over four-year span. |
| Ralph Sampson | C | Virginia | Atlantic Coast (1981-83) | Averaged 17.6 ppg, 11.5 rpg and 3.1 bpg while shooting 57.5% from the floor over three-year MVP span. |
| Joe Binion | F | North Carolina A&T | Mid-Eastern Athletic (1982-84) | Averaged 19.8 ppg and 10.8 rpg while shooting 50.9% from the floor over three-year MVP span. |
| Willie Jackson | F | Centenary | Trans America Athletic (1982-84) | Averaged 23.9 ppg and 9.2 rpg over three-year MVP span. |
| Alfredrick Hughes | F | Loyola (Ill.) | Midwestern Collegiate (1983-85) | Averaged 26.5 ppg and 8.8 rpg over three-year MVP span. |
| Chris Mullin | G-F | St. John's | Big East (1983-85) | Averaged 20.4 ppg and 4.3 rpg while shooting 55.4% from the floor and 86.5% from the free-throw line over three-year MVP span. |
| Wayman Tisdale | C | Oklahoma | Big Eight (1983-85) | Averaged 25.6 ppg and 10.1 rpg while shooting 57.8% from the floor over three-year span. |
| Larry Krystkowiak | F | Montana | Big Sky (1984-86) | Averaged 20.4 ppg and 10.7 rpg while shooting 57.1% from the floor and 80.1% from the free-throw line over three-year MVP span. |
| Reggie Lewis | F | Northeastern | ECAC North (1985-87) | Averaged 23.7 ppg and 8.5 rpg over three-year MVP span. |
| David Robinson | C | Navy | Colonial Athletic (1985-87) | Averaged 24.8 ppg, 12.2 rpg and 4.8 bpg while shooting 61.2% from the floor over three-year MVP span. |
| Danny Manning | F | Kansas | Big Eight (1986-88) | Averaged 21.7 ppg and 8.2 rpg while shooting 59.9% from the floor over three-year MVP span. |
| Lionel Simmons | F | La Salle | Metro Atlantic Athletic (1988-90) | Averaged 26 ppg and 11.3 rpg over three-year MVP span. |
| Clarence Weatherspoon | F | Southern Mississippi | Metro (1990-92) | Averaged 19.3 ppg and 10.3 rpg while shooting 58.4% from the floor over three-year MVP span. |
| Tony Dunkin | F | Coastal Carolina | Big South (1990-93) | Averaged 20.7 ppg and 7 rpg while shooting 52.2% from the floor and 41.2% from beyond the three-point arc over four-year span. |
| Gary Trent | F | Ohio University | Mid-American (1993-95) | Averaged 22.7 ppg and 11.3 rpg while shooting 57.3% from the floor over three-year span. |
| Keith Van Horn | F | Utah | Western Athletic (1995-97) | Averaged 21.5 ppg and 8.9 rpg while shooting 52.4% from the floor and 87% from the free-throw line over three-year MVP span. |
| George Evans | F | George Mason | Colonial Athletic (1999-2001) | Averaged 17.9 ppg and 8.3 rpg while shooting 58.4% from the floor over three-year MVP span. |
| David West | F-C | Xavier | Atlantic 10 (2001-03) | Averaged 18.8 ppg and 10.8 rpg while shooting 53.1% from the floor over three-year MVP span. |
| Taylor Coppenrath | F | Vermont | America East (2003-05) | Averaged 23.1 ppg and 7.5 rpg over three-year MVP span. |
| Nick Fazekas | F | Nevada | Western Athletic (2005-07) | Averaged 21 ppg and 10.3 rpg while shooting 53.2% from the floor and 82.3% from the free-throw line over three-year MVP span. |
| Caleb Green | F | Oral Roberts | Mid-Continent (2005-07) | Averaged 20.2 ppg and 9.1 rpg while shooting 52.6% from the floor over three-year MVP span. |