Frank Selvy, Furman basketball legend who scored 100 points in a game, dies at 91

Posted by author August 13, 2024 NBA

Furman basketball legend Frank Selvy, a former NBA star who once scored 100 points in a single college game, died Tuesday morning in his Simpsonville home at the age of 91.

Sevly, nicknamed “The Corbin Comet” for his hometown in Kentucky, led the NCAA in scoring twice, including 41.7 points per game as a senior in 1954. He scored a Division I record 100 points in a 145-95 Furman win Feb. 13, 1954, against Newberry at Textile Hall in downtown Greenville.

That remains the national record against opponents regardless of classification. Second-best against a non-Division I team is Paul Arizin with 85 points for Villanova in 1949. The mark for most points in a game against a Division I opponent is 72 by Kevin Bradshaw of U.S. International in 1991.

Selvy, a 6-foot-3 guard, averaged 32.5 points per game and was a No. 1 overall draft pick by the Baltimore Bullets.

“A true Paladin legend,” said Jason Donnelly, Furman’s vice president of intercollegiate athletics in a news release. “… Furman’s all-time greatest athlete, a consensus All-American, NBA all-star (1955 and 1962), distinguished member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, one of the greatest scorers in the history of college basketball.”

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Selvy is a member of the Furman Athletics Hall of Fame (1981), South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame (1960), Southern Conference Hall of Fame 2009) and National College Basketball Hall of Fame (2022).

“Frank was both a mentor and a friend who had an incredible impact on Furman basketball as a player and a coach (1966-70),” Furman basketball coach Bob Richey said. “In addition to being a great basketball player, Frank was a phenomenal person. He was one of the best to ever wear the jersey, and he will be deeply missed.”