Over 3,000 career points: These are the only boys basketball players in PIAA history to score this big
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (BVM) — There have been only four boys basketball players in Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association history to have ever scored at least 3,000 career points, according to PAhoops. No athlete in the 21st century has reached such a feat considering that all the players on this list all graduated between 1961-1998.
4. Ron Krick (3,174 points)
After battling with cancer, Ron Krick passed away in 2011, but he will always be remembered for his persistence out on the basketball court. He scored 3,174 points for West Reading High School (West Reading, Pennsylvania) by the time he graduated in 1961. Although currently ranked No. 4 in PIAA history, it’s important to note that he’s the first player in Pennsylvania to ever join the 3,000-point club.
Krick dislocated his shoulder during his senior season and made headlines when he returned to play with his right arm in a brace. He played with his left arm and then went on to lead his team to their third straight Class C state basketball championship.
Standing tall at 6-foot-9, the center went on to play for Cincinnati, but unfortunately, his injuries limited his playing abilities: he averaged just 9.4 points in 74 games. Krick made the decision to still play after graduation and so he was drafted by the Cincinnati Royals of the NBA in 1965. Yet again, injury prevented him from performing at his best. He took his career back some steps and instead joined the Exeter Black Knights who went on to win the National Amateur Basketball Tournament in 1970.
3. Billy Owens (3,299 points)
Although Billy Owens has the lowest point-average out of the players in this 3,000-point club at 25.5 points per game, he rounds out the top three after playing a whopping 129 games. The McDonald’s All-American amassed 3,299 points by 1988 for Carlisle High School (Carlisle, Pennsylvania) and in this year he also helped his team win their fourth consecutive state title.
The 6-foot-8 shooting guard went on to play for Syracuse and in his three seasons he averaged 17.9 points. Owens opted to enter the NBA draft in 1991 and he played his first season with Golden State. In his second season with the Warriors, he averaged 16.5 points a game. By the time he played his final season in the NBA, which was with the Detroit Pistons, Owens averaged 4.4 points a game. In his tenure with the NBA, Owens also played for the Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings, Seattle SuperSonics and Philadelphia 76ers. Injury led Owens to pursue things outside of professional sports, which included serving as the assistant coach for the men’s basketball team at Rutgers-Camden (DIII) starting in 2010.
2. Tom McMillen (3,608 points)
A 1970 graduate of Mansfield High School (Mansfield, Pennsylvania), Tom McMillen has the highest average out of all the players in the 3,000-point club at 35.4 points a game. He accumulated 3,608 career points and went on to accomplish so much more on and off the basketball court after high school.
While playing for the Maryland Terrapins, he averaged 20.5 points a game in his three–year career. He was then selected as the No. 9 draft pick in the 1974 NBA Draft by the Buffalo Braves. However, he decided to attend University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and play for the team there instead. Later, he returned to play for the Braves, as well as the New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Bullets.
After over ten years in the NBA, McMillen retired to take on a new position as a United States Congressman. Today, he is the President/CEO of Lead1 Association, which is a membership association that represents Division I Football Bowl Subdivision athletic directors and their departments.
1. A.J. Nastasi (3,833 points)
Interestingly enough, the high school athlete who comes in as Pennsylvania’s all-time leading scorer actually chose not to pursue basketball in college. A.J. Nastasi scored a total of 3,833 career points by the time he graduated from Northern Bedford County High School (Loysburg, Pennsylvania). A 1998 graduate, he chose to continue his athletic career at West Virginia University to pursue football.
Although he could have been a two-sport athlete in college too, Nastasi chose to drop basketball because he ‘didn’t want to take on such weighted responsibilities’ at that level.
Today, the 5-foot-10 star athlete, who averaged 33.3 points in 115 games at the high school level, holds the 23-year-old record every athlete dreams of breaking. He is currently a sales professional for BSN Sports, which is a company that sells sports gear to schools and coaches.
