Small guards, big scoring impact: Why undersized mid-major guards dominate national scoring lists

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before.

Small guard, at a small D-1 school, putting up bigger scoring numbers than anyone else in the country.

Sound familiar? As basketball continues to get bigger, the title of college hoops scoring champ continues to be dominated by the little guys.

Seven of the last eight players to lead Division I men’s college basketball in scoring have been under 6-foot-2.

The trend is continuing this season, as Denver’s Tommy Bruner, a fifth-year guard listed at 6-1, is the current leader in the clubhouse at 25.3 points per game. Bruner went for a season-high 49 points for the Pioneers (13-11) in a double-overtime win over South Dakota on Jan. 25, his seventh 30-plus point performance of the season. He’s shooting 42.8 percent from the field and 38.4 percent from three-point range.

If Bruner were to stumble down the stretch, he’d likely be overtaken by Southern Illinois’ Xavier Johnson, a graduate guard who– you guessed it– is undersized, listed at 6-1. He’s averaging 23.5 points per game on 44.8 percent shooting.

Sure, Purdue’s 7-4 behemoth Zach Edey, the National Player of the Year favorite, ranks third in the nation at 23.1 points per game, but keep scrolling down the leaderboard and you’ll find 6-1 Jordan Johnson at New Orleans (21.7), 6-3 Xander Rice at Monmouth (21.7) and 6-2 Landon Glasper at North Carolina A&T (21.3).

Much more remarkable is the fact that since the turn of the century, 13 of the 21 players who finished tops in the nation in scoring have been under 6-4. Two more, Tyler Harvey of Eastern Washington in 2015 and Ronnie McCollum of Centenary in 2001, were exactly 6-4.

Here’s a look at the list:

2022-23 Antoine Davis, Detroit, 6-12021-22 Peter Kiss, Bryant, 6-52020-21 Max Abmas, Oral Roberts, 6-0 2019-20 Markus Howard, Marquette, 5-10 2018-19 Chris Clemons, Campbell, 5-9 2017-18 Trae Young, Oklahoma 6-1 2016-17 Marcus Keene, Central Michigan, 5-9 2015-16 James Daniel III, Howard, 6-0 2014-15 Tyler Harvey, Eastern Washington, 6-42013-14 Doug McDermott, Creighton, 6-62012-13 Erick Green, Virginia Tech, 6-3 2011-12 Reggie Hamilton, Oakland, 5-11 2010-11 Jimmer Fredette, BYU, 6-2 2009-10 Aubrey Coleman, Houston, 6-2 2008-09 Stephen Curry, Davidson, 6-22007-08 Reggie Williams, VMI, 6-62006-07 Reggie Williams, VMI, 6-62005-06 Adam Morrison, Gonzaga, 6-82004-05 Keydren Clark, Saint Peter’s, 6-0 2003-04 Keydren Clark, Saint Peter’s, 6-02002-03 Ruben Douglas, New Mexico, 6-52001-02 Jason Conley, VMI, 6-52000-01 Ronnie McCollum, Centenary, 6-4

So what is it about smaller guards from small schools that leads to big scoring numbers?

For one, it seems that players whose talent would dictate that they could play for larger schools are ending up at mid-majors because of their size.

“It’s because we were overlooked, and the mid-major was probably the only route for us to go,” said Keydren Clark, who despite being listed at 5-11 twice led the nation in scoring while at St. Peter’s from 2003-05. “We just wanted an opportunity to show our ability and that we belonged, and the rest is just going out there with a chip (on our shoulder) and something to prove to everybody.”

Clark was a standout at Rice High School in Harlem, but he wasn’t heavily recruited going into college. He said he chose St. Peter’s over offers from Howard and Charlotte because the Peacocks offered him immediate playing time. He repaid them by scoring over 3,000 points, becoming the NCAA’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made (before being surpassed by Duke’s JJ Redick in both players’ senior seasons), and finishing his career sixth on the NCAA’s all-time scoring list (he’s now 10th).

How was he able to do all of that despite his diminutive– in basketball terms at least– size?

“You have to be crafty, you have to be witty, and you have to know how to play the angles,” Clark said. “Everybody that’s going to guard you is going to be taller than you, right? So you have to be able to adapt and get your shot off in tight spaces and quickly. It’s a mindset.”

Bruner appears to have adapted that mindset, using his quickness and daft ball handling ability to score from all areas of the floor. Like many college players these days, the Columbia, S.C. native has been a bit of a journeyman— starting his career at South Carolina-Upstate before transferring to Jacksonville and then Denver. He recognizes just how difficult the challenge of leading the country in scoring is.

“It was exciting to see my name up there,” Bruner, whose brother Jordan played for Yale from 2016-20, told KUSA-TV in Denver. “When you play other teams they talk trash saying ‘You’re not No. 1! You’re not this and that!’ Just seeing my name up there is exciting.”

Of course, having a national scoring leader doesn’t necessarily translate to success. Of the 23 teams with the top scorer since the turn of the century, only seven reached the NCAA Tournament. Like many other players on this list, Bruner may have only been overlooked by bigger schools because of his height, so he’s been able to put on a one-man show at Denver, becoming the focal point of an offense that only has three double-digit scorers. The Pioneers are currently in sixth place in the Summit League standings.

Bruner may be small (in basketball terms), but it’s not just his points per game average that’s outsized. He’s got a big heart, too. When he’s not dropping 30 on opponents, he spends his time helping underprivileged kids. The 22-year-old founded a charity organization called “Be Different,” which delivered more than 800 Christmas presents to kids and began renovation plans for a local park.

“When you score 30 everyone’s not happy about that,” Bruner told the Associated Press. “But when you give a kid a present, everyone’s happy about that.”

He may be undersized, but Bruner’s impact on and off the court has been huge. As we’ve seen throughout college hoops history, he’s in good company.