ACC players with most wins

[hurleyfor3]

Heading into the NCAA Tournament, the list of conference players with the most overall wins stands thusly:

Shane 131
Duhon 123
Danny Green 123
Kyle 123
Laettner 122
Deon Thompson 122
Hansbrough 120
Nolan 119
Nate James 117
Ferry 117
Six Duke players 116

No one's touching Shane, but there's still opportunity for our seniors to move up on the lists.

Kyle finishes with 61 games won against ACC opponents and Nolan with 59 (assuming we don't see unc again, of course). The latter is significant because it bumps down Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough a couple notches -- they have 58 each and are the leaders among non-Duke players. Shane has 70.

[wilson]

Heading into the ACC Tournament, the list of conference players with the most overall wins stands thusly...Great list. That group of names all in one place is a beautiful thing.
Small quibble: I'm assuming you mean "heading into the NCAA Tournament"? For a moment, I thought this might be an older post, and that Kyle had a chance to finish as the winningest Duke player ever with a national title.

[hurleyfor3]

Great list. That group of names all in one place is a beautiful thing.
Small quibble: I'm assuming you mean "heading into the NCAA Tournament"?

Whoops, you're right. Those numbers are correct as of today (3-0 in ACC Tournament). I got them off an ACC press release and added three each for Kyle and Nolan.

70 conference wins is still amazing when you consider the maximum possible under the current format (and the format Shane played under) is 76.


Great list. That group of names all in one place is a beautiful thing.

I'll be even more beautiful if we can shove some unc players down a couple more spots!

[wilson]

70 conference wins is still amazing when you consider the maximum possible under the current format (and the format Shane played under) is 76.It truly is amazing.
I also found it interesting that, somehow, Danny Green (ugh) left unc as a winninger (um, sure, that's a word) player than Tyler Hansbrough. I bet if you polled 100 ACC fans, or even 100 unc fans, on who won more, about 98 of them would guess Hansbarf.

[Olympic Fan]

I've been posting this update in the thread about Kyle's stat records and I agree that his win total is significant. As noted, he's nlow tied with Danny Green and Chris Duhon for the second most wins played in during a career (123). But what's even more significant is that Kyle has STARTED more wins than any other played in ACC history -- his 122 winning starts are better than even Battier (who came off the bench for 27 games in his first two years).

I'm been trying to find an NCAA list of top winners, but aside from the fact that they recognize Battier and Kentucky's Wayne Turner as tied for first place, I can't find the leaderboad.

I did find this list on a 2010 Kansas blog, but I'm not sure I trust it since it left out Duhon at 123:

Battier 131
Turner 131
Stacey Augmon 125
Sherron Collins 124
Danny Green 123
Anthony Epps 123
Christian Laettner 122

Note: Like the NCAA, it recognizes only games actually played in.

If this is correct -- and it's a BIG IF -- Kyle can become the No. 3 winner in NCAA history if Duke reaches the Sweet 16.

[Olympic Fan]

Oops, we missed one.

Ohio State's David Lighty is the current NCAA wins leader -- he has 127 career wins at this moment.

He played on the 35-win team in 2007 that was runnerup to Florida for the national title, then on the 24-win NIT champs in 2008. He played in seven wins in 2009 before breaking his foot. He received a medical hardship. As a redshirt junior in 2010, he played every game of a 29-win season. He's started every game this season for a 32-win Ohio State team.

Those extra seven games are the killer.

If Ohio State reaches the final four, he ties Battier and Turner ... if they get to the title game, he's the new record holder.

He did come off the bench for most of his freshman year (he has 121 starts in 153 career games), so I'm sure he hasn't started as many wins as Kyle.

But he has played in more wins.

[hurleyfor3]

If Ohio State reaches the final four, [Lighty] ties Battier

I'd be thrilled with this outcome. Tying Shane, that is -- no less and no more.

[1 24 90]

Oops, we missed one.

Ohio State's David Lighty is the current NCAA wins leader -- he has 127 career wins at this moment.

He played on the 35-win team in 2007 that was runnerup to Florida for the national title, then on the 24-win NIT champs in 2008. He played in seven wins in 2009 before breaking his foot. He received a medical hardship. As a redshirt junior in 2010, he played every game of a 29-win season. He's started every game this season for a 32-win Ohio State team.

Those extra seven games are the killer.

If Ohio State reaches the final four, he ties Battier and Turner ... if they get to the title game, he's the new record holder.

He did come off the bench for most of his freshman year (he has 121 starts in 153 career games), so I'm sure he hasn't started as many wins as Kyle.

But he has played in more wins.

I think this deserves a huge asterisk. If that year didn't count against his eligibility he shouldn't get credit for those wins. I guess Kyrie could redshirt and keep his 8 wins and then come back for 4 years, oh forget it.

[theAlaskanBear]

When I think about future Duke win challengers, there are two names on our current team that could pass Smith and Singler and challenge Battier: Dawkins and Kelly. Mason missed a lot of time to injury his freshman year, but Dawkins and Kelly each get credit for 35 wins, right? Those wins were on the backs of our great Sr/Jr class, but with another 30 wins this year in the bank and more to come -- they are on pace to pass Shane. IF Kyrie is back at Duke next year, they could easily win another 30 (though I expect them to take a few lumps without our current senior leaders). Equally important, neither of them seem to be on pace to leave early for the NBA.

[hurleyfor3]

Andre had two DNPs last year, @Clemson and vs. GIT. So 33 wins.

Kelly had five DNPs last year. @Wisconsin and @Maryland were losses. Then the ACC Tournament final and the Baylor and Butler games. 32 wins overall.

This from the media guide.

[wilson]

When I think about future Duke win challengers, there are two names on our current team that could pass Smith and Singler and challenge Battier: Dawkins and Kelly. Mason missed a lot of time to injury his freshman year, but Dawkins and Kelly each get credit for 35 wins, right? Those wins were on the backs of our great Sr/Jr class, but with another 30 wins this year in the bank and more to come -- they are on pace to pass Shane. IF Kyrie is back at Duke next year, they could easily win another 30 (though I expect them to take a few lumps without our current senior leaders). Equally important, neither of them seem to be on pace to leave early for the NBA.According to the Duke statistical database (http://goduke.statsgeek.com/basketball-m/seasons/season-stats.php?season=2009-10), RK appeared in 35 of 40 games last season, and Dre in 38. No idea which ones they missed, and whether they were wins or losses, but presumably at least one (if not both) missed out on at least one or two of last season's 35 wins.
Nevertheless, that's a good observation, and they do have reasonable shots to be in the conversation by the time they finish.
On the other hand, I'm not sure it would be quite fair to include them amid the likes of Kyle and Shane, since RK only averaged 6.5 minutes per game last year, and Dawkins only 12.6. In contrast, Shane averaged 24.6 minutes his freshman year, and Kyle 28.6.

[turnandburn55]

We're going to factor in NIT wins here also????

[theAlaskanBear]

Andre had two DNPs last year, @Clemson and vs. GIT. So 33 wins.

Kelly had five DNPs last year. @Wisconsin and @Maryland were losses. Then the ACC Tournament final and the Baylor and Butler games. 32 wins overall.

This from the media guide.

Thanks for the extra research effort! I knew they each had a couple of DNPs, but couldnt locate them on the ESPN stats page.

[DBFAN]

We're going to factor in NIT wins here also????

I was wondering the Sam thing, how do NIT wins equate to NCAA wins. Not trying to sound rude, but it would seem like there would be something that separated the two.

[juise]

I was wondering the [same] thing, how do NIT wins equate to NCAA wins. Not trying to sound rude, but it would seem like there would be something that separated the two.

Number of NCAA wins should be the tiebreaker (for the king of wins)... and then championships. :)

[Olympic Fan]

C'mon, wins are wins. We're not about to start debating the "quality" of wins, are we? Geez, I'd say Battier's wins in the ACC are worth a bit more than Turner's wins in the SEC?

Yeah, NIT wins may be cheesy, but they're real games and the stats compiled in them count.

As for Lighty's seven wins in his hardship season, he played in them so they count. It's a fluke, but it's not like a redshirt year -- repeating the rule, you get credit for games you actually play in.

[kong123]

It truly is amazing.
I also found it interesting that, somehow, Danny Green (ugh) left unc as a winninger (um, sure, that's a word) player than Tyler Hansbrough. I bet if you polled 100 ACC fans, or even 100 unc fans, on who won more, about 98 of them would guess Hansbarf.

No, I remember them making a big deal about it at the time. I imagine most UNC fans know this.