Basketball
Victor Wembanyama’s potential has NBA fans dreaming about quintuple-doubles – has it happened at the high school level?
New York senior Kieonna Christmas reportedly pulled off the feat in December, making her the 13th prep player believed to have posted double figures in five statistical categories.
Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs posted a rare triple-double against the Toronto Raptors last week that included double figures in blocked shots, leaving some NBA pundits wondering if the precocious 7-foot-4 rookie might someday post an extremely rare quintuple-double.
In NBA history, only Wilt Chamberlain is believed to have ever achieved the elusive quintuple-double and even that stat line is disputed. As a member of the Philadelphia 76ers in a 158-128 win over the Lakers in 1968, Chamberlain had 53 points, 32 rebounds, 24 blocks, 14 assists and 11 steals.
The issue with those stats is that steals and blocks were not official NBA stats at the time and the only statistician who kept track of those totals during the game was Philadelphia journalist Harvey Pollack, who routinely kept stats for Chamberlain’s games, including his 100-point game in 1962.
While a quintuple-double remains an extremely rare occurrence at the professional level, it has happened roughly 13 times at the high school level by 10 players, according to statistics submitted to MaxPreps database and from online research.
The most recent quintuple-double occurred in December when Fonda-Fultonville (Fonda, N.Y.) forward Kieonna Christmas led the Braves to a 55-50 overtime win against Notre Dame Bishop Gibbons. The 6-foot senior had 11 points, 20 rebounds, 11 assists, 10 steals and 10 blocks in the win.
See footage from Christmas’ historic effort in the video.
Future WNBA great Tamika Catchings is believed to be the first prep player to post a quintuple-double while at Duncanville (Texas). In a 1997 game, Catchings had 25 points, 18 rebounds, 11 assists, 10 steals and 10 blocked shots.
According to stats posted on MaxPreps, Aquillin Hayes of Wings Academy (Bronx, N.Y.) posted three quintuple-doubles over the course of three weeks in February of 2011. Against Addams (Bronx) on Feb. 1, Hayes had 25 points, 13 rebounds, 12 assists, 11 steals and 10 blocks. She followed that effort against Columbus (Bronx) on Feb. 9 when she had 24 points, 21 rebounds, 14 blocks, 11 assists and 11 steals.
She concluded the three-week run against Stevenson (Bronx) with 34 points, 16 blocks, 14 rebounds, 13 steals and 10 assists on Feb. 18.
For the season, the 5-foot-9 senior averaged 22.1 points, 12.9 rebounds, 8.4 steals, 7.0 assists and 5.3 blocks. Hayes went on to play at the New Haven University and was a Division II All-American.
Takiya Webb of Finney (Penfield, N.Y.) also had multiple quintuple-doubles in 2009-10. In a win over Red Jacket (Shortsville) on Dec. 29, 2009, she had 12 points, 18 rebounds, 15 steals 10 assists and 10 blocks. She did it again on Jan. 22 against Northstar Christian when she had 14 points, 21 rebounds, 11 steals, 10 assists and 10 blocks.
Of the 13 quintuple-doubles on our list, only three were recorded by male players. Two of them occurred last year. Jaydon Awe of Pacelli (Stevens Point, Wis.) achieved the feat on Jan. 20 in a win over Rosholt when he had 18 points, 13 rebounds, 11 steals, 10 assists and 10 blocks.
A week later on Jan. 27, Thomas Armbruster of Summit Classical Christian School (Bellevue, Wash.) delivered 31 points, 16 rebounds, 13 steals, 11 blocks and 10 assists in a win over Concrete.
The first male player believed to achieve the feat is Nelson Lopez of Northwestern (Miami, Fla.), who had 30 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists, 11 steals and 10 blocks in January of 2006 against Hialeah.
Others who have recorded quintuple doubles according to the MaxPreps database include:
* Chase Coley of Washburn (Minneapolis, Minn.) in 2014 against Patrick Henry with 14 points, 14 rebounds, 11 blocks, 11 steals and 10 assists.
* Angie Erickson of Father Yermo (El Paso, Texas) in 2009 with 21 points, 12 rebounds, 12 blocks, 10 assists and 10 steals against Faith Christian (El Paso).
* Aimee Oertner of Northern Lehigh (Slatington, Pa.) in 2012 with 26 points, 20 rebounds, 11 blocks, 10 assists and 10 steals against Pius X (Bangor, Pa.).
