50+ Years Later, The Rocket Still Tops List of Boiler Shooting Guards
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone aware of Indiana’s tradition of producing great high school basketball shooters that 70 percent of Purdue’s Top 10 shooting guards from the 1960s to the present are products of Hoosier Hysteria.
From Lebanon to East Chicago to Anderson and points in between, these Boilermakers piled up points and a lot of victories. The first four men on this list belong among the Big Ten’s all-time greatest scorers. The players I ranked second, third and fourth are interchangeable based on personal preference. But there’s no doubt who is at the top of this list.
- Rick Mount – It’s been 56 years since his last game in a Purdue uniform, and “The Rocket” will probably head this list 56 years from now.
No one will come close to Mount’s career scoring average of 32.3 points a game. The 1966 Indiana Mr. Basketball from Lebanon was a two-time first-team All-American and two-time Big Ten Player of the Year.
Mount scored in double figures in all 72 games of his Boilermaker career. He had at least 30 points in 46 of those games. Both remain Purdue records.
Had there been freshman eligibility during the 1965-66 season, Mount would still hold the career scoring record at Purdue instead of Zach Edey, who scored 2,516 over four seasons. In 14 games on the freshman team, Mount scored 390 points which would have pushed his career total to 2,713 over 86 games.
- E’Twaun Moore – One of three men on this list with more than 2,000 career points, Moore had to be special to be ranked ahead of the next two athletes on this list.
When the East Chicago native left Purdue following his senior season in 2010-11, Moore was the third player in Big Ten history with at least 2,000 points (2,136), 500 rebounds (611) and 400 assists in his career. Braden Smith just broke Moore’s record for minutes played (4,517). Other records Moore held were for victories (107), games played (140), 3-point field goals made (243) and games started (136).
- Carsen Edwards – Purdue’s first winner of the Jerry West Award as the nation’s top shooting guard, the Texas native’s ability to put up points quickly came within a second of ending the Boilermakers’ Final Four drought in 2019.
Edwards lit up defending NCAA champion Villanova for 42 points in the tournament’s second round. He followed up with 29 against Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen. Edwards torched Virginia for 42 points on 10 of 19 shooting from 3-point range, a school record.
He set an NCAA tournament record with 28 3-pointers, besting the six-game mark set by Michigan’s Glen Rice.
- Troy Lewis – After leading Purdue in scoring as a sophomore (18.4), junior (18.5) and senior (17.9), the 1984 co-Indiana Mr. Basketball from Anderson left Purdue with 2,038 points.
Lewis earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as a junior and as a senior after helping the Boilermakers win back-to-back league titles. He was later selected to Purdue’s Centennial All-Time Men’s Basketball Team.
- Chad Austin – When he completed his Purdue career in 1998, Austin was in the top three for 3-pointers made (212). He finished with 1,694 points.
The Richmond native was a two-time first-team All-Big Ten selection but will be best remembered by Purdue fans for making two game-winning shots at Indiana.
The first, a 3-pointer, came with 13.7 seconds remaining on Feb. 25, 1996, giving No. 8 Purdue a 74-72 victory and a leg up toward its Big Ten championship three-peat. The second was more dramatic, a 2-pointer coming with six-tenths of a second to give the Boilermakers an 89-87 victory on Feb. 18, 1997.
- Jerry Sichting – The former Martinsville standout waited two seasons for his opportunity but when it came, Sichting was ready. He averaged 15.1 points a game as a junior in 1979 and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as a senior.
Sichting never shot below 81.6 percent from the free throw line and set the career free throw percentage record at 86.7 percent. His record of 34 consecutive free throws made stood for three decades.
- Keith Edmonson – The 6-5 Edmonson came to Purdue from San Antonio as part of then-coach Lee Rose’s quest to recruit taller guards.
He started in the backcourt alongside Brian Walker for the 1980 Final Four team and averaged 13.4 points a game as a sophomore. That figure rose to 17.3 as a junior under coach Gene Keady. Edmonson led the Big Ten at 21.2 points a game his senior season, resulting in his going 10th overall to the Atlanta Hawks in the 1982 NBA Draft.
- Jaraan Cornell – The South Bend native left Purdue holding the school record for 3-pointers made with 242. Cornell shot 50 percent from 3-point range as a sophomore in 1998, a figure that set a school record and led the Big Ten.
The left-handed Cornell also was a solid defender. With 176 steals in his four seasons, he departed Purdue trailing only Brian Walker, Chris Kramer and teammate Brian Cardinal in that category.
- Willie Deane – After transferring from Boston College, Deane gave the Boilermakers an offensive boost in the post-Brian Cardinal / Jaaran Cornell era.
He set Mackey Arena records for free throws made (17) and attempted (19) against Ohio State in 2003. Deane put up 1,328 points in just three seasons at Purdue.
- David Teague – The Indiana All-Star from Pike High School in Indianapolis was never shy about shooting behind the 3-point line.
Teague set the Purdue freshman record at the time for 3-point field goals in a season with 35. By his junior season, Teague was one of the top Big Ten scorers. A torn ACL cost Teague his senior season but his return for 2006-07 got the Matt Painter era rolling. Teague averaged 14.3 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists to help the Boilermakers reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Painter.
Kenny Thompson is the former sports editor for the Lafayette Journal & Courier and an award-winning journalist. He has covered Purdue athletics for many years.