JJ Culver Scores 100 Points in College Hoops Game

Wayland Baptist’s J.J. Culver became the fourth college basketball player in history to score at least 100 points in a game.

Culver’s prolific outing occurred Tuesday night in the Pioneers 124-60 win over Southwestern Adventist. The game took place at Wayland Baptist’s 3,000 seat arena in Plainview, Texas.

Culver joins Furman’s Frank Selvy, Rio Grande of Ohio’s Clarence “Bevo” Francis and Grinnell’s Jack Taylor as the fourth player to score at least 100 points in a college basketball game.

Culver, a senior at Wayland Baptist, hit 34-for-62 of his shots, including 12 three-pointers, and went 20-for-27 from the free throw line.

“J.J. has awesome offensive talent to be able to put it in the basket that many times, and I thought our guys did a great job of getting him the ball in places where he could score,” said Wayland Baptist men’s basketball coach Ty Harrelson. “He did a great job of reading the defense and getting open.

“We always script our first couple of plays, and J.J. scored on the first three or four. The guys realized he was hot and kept going to him. We figured as long as he’s taking good shots and shots out of our philosophy that he had a chance to do something special tonight.”

J.J. Culver comes from a very athletic family. His brother Jarrett Culver, a former Texas Tech basketball star, was the sixth-pick overall of the 2019 NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns, and now plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Another brother, Trey Culver, was a two-time NCAA indoor high jump champion competing for Texas Tech, and is currently training for the 2020 Olympics.

But aside from the brothers being athletically gifted, they are also extremely religious, raised by a pastor father (Hiawatha) and mother Regina, who is a director at Head Start, a program that provides childhood education, nutrition and parent involvement services to low-income children and families.

After the 100-point outing, J.J. Culver thanked the Lord.

“All glory to God. Couldn’t have done it without my Coaches, Teammates, and Family,” J.J. Culver tweeted.

Hiawatha Culver is pastor of Rising Star Baptist Church in Lubbock and serves as chaplain for the Texas Tech men’s basketball team.

Wayland Baptist Athletic Director Rick Cooper recently praised the Hiawatha and Regina for being outstanding parents.

“Hiawatha and Regina did an amazing job raising their three boys,” Cooper said. “Not only are they great athletes, but more importantly outstanding young men.”

Jarrett Culver took to Twitter to congratulate his older brother.

“WAIT. My brother @jj10culver just scored 100 points in a game. Somebody tell me I’m not dreaming,” tweeted Jarrett Culver.

No, it’s not a dream.

And speaking of dreams, J.J. Culver’s dream is to follow his brother into the NBA once he finishes up at Wayland Baptist this spring.

Harrelson said the 100-point game could not have happened to a “nicer kid.”

“I’ve coached him really hard for four years, so I’m happy for him and proud of him,” Harrelson said. “It couldn’t happen to a nicer kid and harder worker.”