Antoine Davis Complains He Was ‘Cheated’ Out Of NCAA Scoring Record, Fans Not Sympathetic

Detroit Mercy guard Antoine Davis finished his college basketball career three points short of the all-time NCAA basketball scoring record this year.

His team, which finished the season 14-19, tried to get the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) to invite them to play in their post-season tournament so he could break the record, but they declined.

It would appear that the CBI made that decision due in large part to the massive outcry of fans, including Pete Maravich’s son Jaeson, who said if they did invite Detroit Mercy to play, Antoine Davis breaking the record would be a “sham.”

“We did receive unsolicited emails and voicemails about Detroit Mercy and some said we don’t ever want Pete Maravich’s record broken,” said Rick Giles, president of the group that runs the CBI. “The decision we made wasn’t based purely on whether we wanted him to break the record or not.”

Still, Antoine Davis held out hope that he and his Detroit Mercy team would still get an invite to play in the inaugural College Hoops Postseason 8. The too did not happen.

On Monday, Davis spoke to the Associated Press and said, “I’m upset about it. I feel like I got cheated out of something that they can’t ever give back to me. I think it’s selfish — and weird — that people emailed or called the CBI to say we shouldn’t be in the tournament because they didn’t want me to break the record.

“But there’s nothing to hold my head down about. I still feel like I’m the best scorer in my generation, especially finishing No. 2 behind him.”

Antoine Davis ended his career with 3,664 points in 144 games (25.4 per game) thanks to being granted a fifth year of eligibility due to the pandemic. 1,764 of those points came on three pointers. 930 points came in his fifth year (he played in 111 games over his first four years).

Pete Maravich, who played in just 83 games (61 less than Davis) because freshmen weren’t allowed on the varsity back then, scored 3,667 points (without a three point line or shot clock) while averaging 44.2 points per game.

“People were trying to paint a picture of us that wasn’t true,” Detroit Mercy coach and Antoine’s dad Mike Davis said. “The picture painted was that we were trying to buy a record. The CBI was never going to let us in because of the backlash. The PS8 had teams pulling out, saying they wouldn’t play if we were going to be in the tournament.

“It’s disappointing that people were calling our school president and athletic director and the people running these tournaments to say don’t let us in. We just had to let it go.”

Many college basketball fans were not sympathetic.

“Antoine Davis is tripping. Your team was 14-19, what post season tournament should y’all be invited to?” another fan asked.

“This Antoine Davis story is ridiculous,” another fan tweeted. “You are upset bc you didn’t get to play a fake postseason tournament against other tiny teams with a 14-19 record. Just so that you can play your 145th game of your 5th season to beat the scoring record from Pete Maravichs 83 games?! Gtfo.”