Each year, college basketball stars and coaches etch their names in history. Here’s what to watch out for this season.
Coaching wins
Rick Barnes: Nearing top 10 all-time
Tennessee’s head coach is just two wins away from tying Bob Huggins for 10th all-time in Division I coaching victories (863). As long as the Vols don’t lose an early buy game, he should get that on Nov. 9 against Radford. Barnes should be able to pass Huggins, Adolph Rupp, Jim Calhoun, and Dean Smith, and stand at seventh all-time by the end of the season.
Bill Self: Nearing top 10 all-time
Obviously, Barnes will get there first, but with 855 career wins, Self should also reach the top 10 this season. That might mean catching up to Adolph Rupp, which would require 21 wins. The Jayhawks have another talented roster that should get there sometime during Big 12 play.
Dana Altman: 800 career wins
Altman has 792 wins heading into the college basketball season, and with Oregon positioned to be an NCAA Tournament team, this should happen fairly quickly into the season. His pace has slowed down lately, but there’s virtually no way Altman doesn’t win at least eight games with the Ducks.
Mark Few: 800 career wins
Few would need another great season at Gonzaga, standing 27 wins away from 800 for his career. Obviously, the Zags will now compete in the new-look Pac-12, but it’d be foolish to think they won’t be a favorite. As always, the non-conference will be difficult, but the Bulldogs have reached 27+ wins in 13 of their last 14 seasons. It will be close, but it’s definitely within reach this season.
Tom Izzo: 800 career wins
Izzo needs 36 wins to get to 800 for his career, which likely won’t happen. But to be fair, the Spartans are a legitimate threat to cut down the nets in April, in Detroit of all places. The chances are low, but higher than 0%!
Randy Bennett: 600 career wins
Now at Arizona State, Bennett brings 589 wins with him, all accrued at Saint Mary’s. Coaching in the Big 12 will be a new and more difficult challenge, but he’s still one of the best in the business, so 11 wins should be a given.
Ron Hunter, Tommy Amaker, Brad Brownell, Mark Turgeon: 500 career wins
Hunter (499) and Amaker (497) will get there within a matter of games. Brownell (483) should be there later on in ACC play. And yes, Mark Turgeon is coaching again at Kansas City, 24 wins away from 500 for his career. Don’t rule it out!
Career points
PJ Haggerty: 2,500 career points and nearing top 25 all-time
Arguably the most talented scorer in college basketball over the last few seasons, Haggerty is looking to play a fifth and final season. He’s already racked up 2,158 points, despite playing just six points as a freshman. 2,141 of those points came in just three seasons. So it’s a no-brainer that Haggerty will hit 2,500 sometime in early January. But how high up can he climb on the leaderboard? Texas A&M will have a lot around him, but Bucky McMillan is a scorer’s dream for a coach. 2,762 career points would be just over 600, and that’d place Haggerty in the top 25. He could climb a few spots up and even into the top 20, when it’s all set and done.
Robbie Avila: 2,000 career points and possibly 2,500 career points
Avila hasn’t gotten any eligibility yet, but he’s just 10 points away from 2,000, and would easily get there in his first game of the season. He’d need 510 to get to 2.5K, which he’s gotten twice – as a sophomore and a junior. It’s well within reach, but after scoring less as a senior, it’s not a foregone conclusion.
Keyshawn Hall: 2,000 career points and possibly 2,500 career points
Hall was cleared on Friday for a fifth year, giving St. John’s a great chance of playing for a title in March Madness. He’s at 1,892 career points in a career that has taken place at UNLV, George Mason, UCF, and Auburn. 2,000 points is a given, but I wouldn’t rule out 2,500. He’d need 608 to get there and had 620 as a junior and 694 as a senior. The Red Storm has other scoring talent, but it’s certainly possible.
Jordan Pope: 2,000 career points
With 1,821 career points, Pope should get to 2,000 before conference play. However, how high can he climb on a team with Haggerty? The Aggies will look to score, and Pope is a gifted scorer, so he’ll easily contribute, but how high up this leaderboard can he get?
Donovan Dent: 2,000 career points
Dent is on track to suit up for LSU this season, as long as he’s cleared for a fifth year. With well over 1,800 points to his name, he should reach 2,000 before the New Year, as long as he’s eligible. He’ll also appear in this article again, a little further down.
Mark Mitchell: 2,000 career points
Mitchell is re-enrolled at Missouri, looking to play a fifth and final year of college hoops. 2,000 points is pretty much a foregone conclusion, as he’s less than 250 away from that mark and scored 605 points in 2025-26. Barring any injuries, Mitchell will get that mark (see what I did there?)
Malik Reneau: 2,000 career points
You see the trend here with the five-in-five guys? Getting to 2,000 career points isn’t all that hard when you have another year to go for it. Reneau is at 1,732 for his career, and figures to be a star yet again for the Miami Hurricanes. He’ll get to 2,000 without a doubt.
Trey Kaufman-Renn: 2,000 career points
If TKR plays, he’d be considered for the best late-season add in the history of college basketball. He’s got 345 points to go until 2,000, so if he suits up and whoever it’s for, he’ll get to the milestone.
Cade Tyson: 2,000 career points
Tyson is set to play a fifth season at Minnesota and needs 379 points for 2,000. He hit that mark every year besides his junior year at UNC, where Tyson could barely see the court. The Gophers will rely on his scoring, so 2,000 will be reached barring any injuries.
Darrion Williams: 2,000 career points
Needing 399 points to get to 2K, Williams should have no trouble, after scoring 512 as a junior and 461 as a senior. He’s set to return to Texas Tech, where he did that damage and had the best two seasons of his career. It’ll be Williams’ fifth and final year.
JT Toppin: 2,000 career points
Toppin enters his fourth college basketball season with 1,593 career points. He’s likely going to be out for a bit after tearing his ACL at the end of last season. But Texas Tech has teased his return, so depending on how quickly he comes back, 2,000 could be in reach in late February or March Madness.
Xaivian Lee: 2,000 career points
Lee needs 440 points to get to 2,000 for his career and has gotten to that mark twice, as a sophomore and junior at Princeton. Now he heads to Gonzaga, where he’ll compete in a fifth and final season for the Bulldogs. 2K is within reach if Lee revisits how he played as a Tiger.
Career assists
Donovan Dent: 1,000 career assists
Only five players in the history of D1 college basketball have ever reached the 1k mark for career assists: Jason Brickman, Ed Cota, Chris Corchiani, Bobby Hurley, and Braden Smith. He stands 242 assists from 1,000, and it’s far from a guarantee. But Dent did pass out 265 dimes at UCLA in 2025-26, so it’s not far-fetched by any means.
Jeremy Fears Jr.: Nearing top 50 all-time
After dishing out over 300 dimes last season, Fears returns as the top point guard in the country. He isn’t in Braden Smith territory, who broke Bobby Hurley’s all-time record, but he could get to 800+ career assists. Fears stands at 564 heading into his senior year and would need to get to 813 to get into the top 50. That’s well within reach after what he did last year.
Elliot Cadeau: Nearing top 50 all-time
Cadeau actually starts this season ahead of Fears, with 615 career assists. He would need 198 to get inside the top 50 all-time, and has had 230+ in each of the last two seasons. However, Fears had a much better rate as a junior, which leads us to believe he could get there first. It’ll be a close race, but regardless, Cadeau should also hit that spot on the milestone, whether before or after Fears does.
Career steals
Tamin Lipsey: 400 career steals
Much like Dent, Lipsey could find himself joining a very exclusive club in 2027. Also looking to play a fifth season, he has long been viewed as one of the top defenders in the country. With 314 steals, Lipsey has already found himself at 37th on the all-time leaderboard. He’d need 86 to reach 400 steals for his career, which, again, is asking a lot. However, Lipsey’s season-best was 96 as a sophomore in 2023-24, so the possibility is still very legitimate. The only two players to EVER get to 400 steals in a career were Chipper Harris (450) and Jacob Gilyard (466), so imagine joining that club?
Career 3PM
Donovan Atwell: Nearing top 10 all-time and MAYBE 500 career 3PM
Atwell is another “5-in-5” guy, currently listed on Texas Tech’s roster. He’s hit 341 career threes, with 130 coming last season, a year when Atwell couldn’t miss, converting on 45.8% of his attempts from deep. 109 threes would place him in a tie for 10th all-time with David Holston. Could 500 be in range? I wouldn’t say it’s impossible, but it would be asking for 29 more than last season, when he was virtually automatic and took over eight per game. I won’t say it’s impossible, but it is highly unlikely. Only five players have ever done it and Atwell could be the sixth!