Three Scots on Men’s Basketball Team on the verge of 1,000 career points: Reed Kemp becomes 37th player in Maryville College history
Scoring 1,000 career points in a college basketball career is a milestone that marks consistency and skill. Only 37 players in Maryville College men’s basketball history have reached this achievement. For a program that dates back to the early 1900s, achieving this is remarkable. This season, three players are on the verge of or have just surpassed 1,000 career points.
Senior Reed Kemp officially reached 1,000 career points in the LaGrange game last Saturday, marking a significant achievement in just two seasons with Maryville College. His total number of points scored now sits at 1,029 and his scoring average is just above 24 points per game, which ranks Kemp fifth nationally in average points per game in Division III.
Meanwhile, Chase Morgan (‘26) sits at 955 career points, and Jackson Garner (‘26) is within reach at 818 points. However, Garner’s season has been cut short due to an ACL and meniscus injury, delaying progress until next year.
For Head Coach Raul Placeres, seeing three of his players reach or approach this achievement is a testament to their hard work and the excellence within the team.
Kemp, a transfer from a Division II program at Missouri Western, has become one of the top scorers in Division III basketball this season. With a focus on refining his skills, Kemp spent the offseason in Miami, training with NBA trainers.
“He really worked on his body this off-season,” Coach Placeres said. “He came in great shape and has elevated his play this year. He’s averaging 24 points per game, which leads our conference in scoring and he’s top five in scoring in the entire country. He’s in the top 10 in three-point shooting percentage in Division III.”
Kemp also attributed his success to the hard work he has put in, saying: “even when you don’t want to, you still have to be disciplined.”
While Kemp has been an extremely strong offensive player on the court, Morgan has been a key player in the post.
“He will probably go down as one of the better post players we’ve ever had in our program’s history,” Placeres said. “It’s feasible that he’ll get it done this year.”
Morgan also leads the team in rebounding, blocks and steals, making him one of the most well-rounded players on the roster. His consistency on both offensive and defensive ends has been critical to Maryville’s success this season.
When asked about the milestone, Morgan said, “It’s exciting to be close to such a career milestone. Reaching 1,000 points puts you up there with some of the best players in this program’s history. Also, it would mean a lot to hit 1,000 points in the same season as my teammate Reed Kemp, who is an elite scorer himself.”
Placeres says that the key to Morgan’s consistency has been “his extreme maturity to our approaches, not only in basketball, but his schoolwork. There’s a direct correlation between academic success and on the court performance and Chase is the epitome of that.”
Beyond reaching 1,000 career points, Morgan said, “I would like to just keep winning. The stats come with the hard work that happens on the practice floor, so I try not to worry about that aspect of the game. I’d like to make the NCAA tournament, make a run and hopefully win a national championship with the time I’ve got left here.”
For Garner, the road to 1,000 career points has been put on hold; however, he remains a key part of the team’s culture. Garner has stayed involved, supporting his teammates and focusing on his recovery.
“We obviously miss Jack—not just his scoring, but his defense and sportsmanship,” Placeres said. “But he’s stayed involved through it all. He’ll be there for our final two home games. If he does everything he’s supposed to in physical therapy, he’ll be back next year and eclipse 1,000 points.”
Garner’s presence, work ethic and leadership make him a key piece of the program’s future.
While the numbers and milestones are impressive, Coach Placeres emphasized that these three players embody what it means to be a Maryville College student-athlete.
“I think it says a lot about the type of students we continue to recruit at the college,” he said. “All three of these guys are also exceptional students—they all carry a 3.10 GPA or higher.”
“I think overall the thousand points are great, but they would tell you that they have had thousands of better experiences than those points,” Placeres said, adding that he is “just really proud of who they are as people more than anything else.”
As the season nears its end, anticipation is high for Morgan’s race to 1,000 points. But one thing is clear: all three players have already left a lasting mark on MC basketball.