<P> In basketball, points are the sum of the score accumulated through free throw or field goal . In National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I basketball, where a player's career is at most four seasons long, it is considered a notable achievement to reach the 1,000 - points scored threshold . In even rarer instances, players have reached the 2,000 - and 3,000 - point plateaus (no player has ever scored 4,000 or more points at the Division I level). The top 25 highest scorers in NCAA Division I men's basketball history are listed below . The NCAA did not split into its current divisions format until August 1973 . From 1906 to 1955, there were no classifications to the NCAA nor its predecessor, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS). Then, from 1956 to spring 1973, colleges were classified as either "NCAA University Division (Major College)" or "NCAA College Division (Small College)". </P> <P> Some of the top 25 scorers in Division I history played before the three - point line was officially instituted in 1986--87 . All of the players with a dash through the three - point field goals made column were affected by this rule . Hank Gathers of Loyola Marymount is the only three - point shot era player on this list who did not make a single three - point shot . From the 1986--87 season through the 2007--08 season, the three - point perimeter was marked at 19 ft 9 in (6.02 m) for both men's and women's college basketball . On May 3, 2007, the NCAA men's basketball rules committee passed a measure to extend the distance of the men's three - point line back to 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m) (the women's line would remain the same). </P> <P> Additionally, several of the players on this list played during an era when college freshmen were ineligible to compete at the varsity level and were forced to participate on either freshman or junior varsity teams . Since freshman and junior varsity points do not count toward official NCAA records, three players--Pete Maravich, Oscar Robertson and Elvin Hayes--only had three seasons to compile their totals . Larry Bird redshirted (sat out) his freshman year, and therefore, like Maravich, Robertson, and Hayes, his totals also cover only three seasons (though in Bird's case, unlike the others, it was his own choice not to play a fourth season at the college level). With the added benefits of a three - point line and a full extra year of varsity eligibility, their already - historical statistics would have been much higher . Maravich, a guard from LSU, not only owns the three highest single season averages in Division I history, but also the highest career total . Remarkably, he scored 3,667 points (over 400 more than the next closest player) in a mere 83 games . His record is generally considered unbreakable; the only player who could have potentially overtaken him as the top scorer in Division I history is Stephen Curry of Davidson, who had scored 2,635 points through his first three seasons of college basketball . However, Curry opted to forgo his final year of NCAA eligibility and moved on to the National Basketball Association (NBA) following his junior season in 2008--09 . </P> <P> Five players on this list are enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Pete Maravich, Oscar Robertson, Elvin Hayes, Larry Bird and David Robinson . </P>

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