McPherson, Kan. - Senior Guard Chris Whitten made history on Thursday night by becoming Central Christian College of KS all-time leading scorer (NAIA era 2000-2025)*.  Surpassing Michael Gholston's (2013-2017) 1,917 career points.  Chris entered Thursdays night's game with 1916 points, needing just one point to tie the record and two points to break it.  He would not have to wait long, on the first play of the first half, Chris scored on a backdoor cut to the basket and converted a layup to make it official.  Whitten finished the night with 17 points on 6 of 19 shooting, 2 of 10 from the three point line, and 3 of 3 from the foul line.  He also grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 4 assists in a heartbreaking buzzer beater loss versus the #6 rated team in the NAIA-Nelson University. 

Chris Whitten's Career by the numbers:
 

Season	GP	GS	FG	FGA	PCT	3FG	3FGA	PCT	FT	FTA	PCT	OFF	DEF	TOT	REB/G	AST/G	BLK	STL	PTS	AVG
2022-23	20	2	47	126	.373	22	66	.333	0	1	.000	5	25	30	1.5	0.5	1	3	116	5.8
2023-24	31	31	202	490	.412	92	243	.379	134	181	.740	19	76	95	3.1	1.3	6	27	630	20.3
2024-25	30	30	195	456	.428	85	231	.368	134	170	.788	10	119	129	4.3	1.2	2	17	609	20.3
2025-26	27	27	191	425	.449	53	171	.310	141	170	.829	13	107	120	4.4	1.5	8	32	576	21.5
Totals	108	90	635	1497	.424	252	711	.354	409	522	.784	47	327	374	3.5	1.1	17	79	1933	18.0

 
Whitten, from Wichita Falls, TX, joined the Tiger basketball program in the fall of 2022 after a highly successful and decorated career at City View High School.  He has continued to build upon that success as a member of the Tiger family here at Central.  Below are a list of his accomplishments up to this point.

• 3^rd team SAC All-Conference (2023-24)
• NCCAA All Region Team (2023-24)
• 1^st team SAC All-Conference (2024-25)
• NCCAA All Region Team (2024-25)
• 2^nd Team NCCAA All American (2024-25)
• SAC Academic All-Conference (2024-25)
• 2^nd leading scorer in the SAC (2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26)
• CCCK Male Athlete of the Year (2024-25)

 
Coach Romero says, "It is quite an amazing accomplishment and even more rare in this era of college basketball, to have a guy be committed to a place long enough to achieve a milestone like this.  Chris is a great team mate and a special player to coach, he has put a tremendous amount of work into his game.  This is a buy product of that work.  Also, to think he only got to play in 20 games as a freshman and averaged 5.8 points per game makes this even more special.  Now a days, players are encouraged to jump ship when it doesn't go their way.   Chris decided to stick with his team mates, his coaches, and our program.   When I look back and reflect on Chris' career, three words come to mind; Consistency, Commitment, and Character.   All three of these things, Chris modeled daily.  It has been a privilege to coach him the last four years, but more importantly I am proud of the young man he has grown into."
 
 
*Matt Turner (c'2000) scored a total of 2,139 career points as a member of the Central Christian College of KS basketball program.  His career points were split between NJCAA and NCCAA member years.  This is why Chris Whitten's record is recognized as a record during the NAIA era.