Florida restores Vernon Maxwell’s college stats, making him the program’s leading scorer again

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida has formally restored basketball great Vernon Maxwell’s final two years of college statistics, a move that once again makes him the program’s all-time leading scorer.

Athletic director Scott Stricklin urged the Gators to reinstate Maxwell’s numbers four decades after “Mad Max” first stepped on campus, and it became official this week. Maxwell, 60, will celebrate the turnabout with friends, family and former teammates during a program reunion this weekend.

“I’m honored and truly appreciative that the legacy I created in my hometown of Gainesville can once again be celebrated, and my mother who is 82 years old will be able to see this relationship mended, which means the world to me,” Maxwell wrote in a post on social media.

Maxwell, who played at nearby Gainesville Buchholz High, scored 2,450 points during his four seasons at Florida (1985-89). He averaged 18.8 points a game and led the Gators to their first NCAA Tournament – they advanced to the Sweet 16 — in 1987. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound guard was a two-time, first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection.

Following his college career, though, Maxwell was the focus of an NCAA investigation that ultimately placed the Gators on unsanctioned probation. Florida was forced to vacate three NCAA Tournament victories (two in 1987, one in 1988) in which Maxwell participated.

Florida’s athletic director at the time, Bill Arnsparger, decided to strip Maxwell’s stats from the record books for those two years, taking away 1,404 points over 67 games. Before this week, Maxwell ranked 55th on the school’s all-time scoring list.

He is now back in front of Ronnie Williams (1980-84) and ranks third in SEC history, behind LSU’s “Pistol” Pete Maravich (3,667 points, 1967-70) and Tennessee’s Allan Houston (2,801, 1990-93).

Maxwell went on to play 12 years in the NBA, a career that included two titles with the Houston Rockets.