List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season assists leaders

In basketball, an assist is a pass to a teammate that directly leads to a score by field goal.[1] The National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I assist title is awarded to the player with the highest assists per game average in a given season. The assist title was first recognized in the 1950–51 season when statistics on assists were first compiled by the NCAA, but there are no officially recorded assist leaders between 1952–53 and 1982–83. The NCAA did not split into its current divisions format until August 1973.[2] From 1906 to 1955, there were no classifications to the NCAA nor its predecessor, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS).[2] Then, from 1956 to 1973, colleges were classified as either "NCAA University Division (Major College)" or "NCAA College Division (Small College)".[2]

Avery Johnson of Southern University holds the all-time NCAA Division I record for single season assists per game (apg) average (13.30), which he accomplished in 1987–88.[3] He also recorded 399 assists that season, which is the second highest single season mark behind UNLV's Mark Wade's record of 406, which occurred in 1986–87.[4] From 1952–53 to 1982–83, the official NCAA record book has no assists per game leaders.[4] Oklahoma freshman Trae Young was the first player to lead the NCAA in both assists and points in the 2017–18 season, while Murray State sophomore Ja Morant was the first player in NCAA history to average at least 20 points and 10 assists throughout the same season in the 2018–19 season.

Four players have earned multiple assist titles: Avery Johnson of Southern (1987, 1988), Jared Jordan of Marist (2006, 2007), Jason Brickman of LIU Brooklyn (2013, 2014), and Yuri Collins of Saint Louis.[5][6] There has been one tie for the national assists leader, which happened during the 2004–05 season when Damitrius Coleman of Mercer and Will Funn of Portland State recorded identical season statistics: 28 games played, 224 total assists and an 8.00 apg average.[7]

Only three freshmen (T. J. Ford, Lonzo Ball, and Trae Young) and two sophomores (Jason Kidd and Ja Morant) have led Division I in average assists.[4][8][9] Two players born outside the United States have led Division I in assists — 1995–96 leader Raimonds Miglinieks of UC Irvine, born in modern-day Latvia (the Latvian SSR of the Soviet Union at the time of his birth), and 1999–2000 leader Mark Dickel of UNLV, born in New Zealand.

Key

Assists leaders

Jason Kidd won the assists title in 1993–94.
T. J. Ford was the first freshman to lead NCAA Division I in assists.
Lonzo Ball became the second freshman to do so, in 2016–17.
Trae Young was the third freshman to lead in assists and the first player to lead in both points and assists in 2017–18.

Except as specifically noted, all teams are listed with their current athletic brand names, which do not always reflect those used by a given program in a specific season.

Season Player Pos. Cl. Team Games
played 		Assists APG Ref.
1950–51 Bill Walker G Sr Toledo 29 210 7.24 [4]
1951–52 Tom O'Toole G Sr Boston College 27 213 7.89 [4]
1953–83 No assists leaders recorded
1983–84 Craig Lathen G Jr UIC 29 274 9.45 [10]
1984–85 Robbie Weingard G Sr Hofstra 24 228 9.50 [11]
1985–86 Mark Jackson G Jr St. John's 36 328 9.11 [12]
1986–87 Avery Johnson G Jr Southern 31 333 10.74 [5]
1987–88 Avery Johnson (2) G Sr Southern 30 399 13.30 [5]
1988–89 Glenn Williams G Sr Holy Cross 28 278 9.93 [11]
1989–90 Todd Lehmann G Sr Drexel 28 260 9.29 [13]
1990–91 Chris Corchiani G Sr NC State 31 299 9.65 [14]
1991–92 Van Usher G Sr Tennessee Tech 29 254 8.76 [11]
1992–93 Sam Crawford G Sr New Mexico State 34 310 9.12 [15]
1993–94 Jason Kidd* G So California 30 272 9.07 [8]
1994–95 Nelson Haggerty G Sr Baylor 28 284 10.14 [16]
1995–96 Raimonds Miglinieks G Sr UC Irvine 27 230 8.52 [11]
1996–97 Kenneth Mitchell G Sr Dartmouth 26 203 7.81 [17]
1997–98 Ahlon Lewis G Sr Arizona State 32 294 9.19 [18]
1998–99 Doug Gottlieb G Jr Oklahoma State 34 299 8.79 [19]
1999–00 Mark Dickel G Sr UNLV 31 280 9.03 [20]
2000–01 Markus Carr G Jr Cal State Northridge 32 286 8.94 [21]
2001–02 T. J. Ford G Fr Texas 33 273 8.27 [9]
2002–03 Martell Bailey G Jr UIC 30 244 8.13 [22]
2003–04 Greg Davis G Sr Troy 31 256 8.26 [23]
2004–05† Damitrius Coleman G Jr Mercer 28 224 8.00 [7]
Will Funn G Sr Portland State 28 224 8.00 [7]
2005–06 Jared Jordan G Jr Marist 29 247 8.52 [6]
2006–07 Jared Jordan (2) G Sr Marist 33 286 8.67 [6]
2007–08 Jason Richards G Sr Davidson 36 293 8.14 [24]
2008–09 Johnathon Jones G Jr Oakland 36 290 8.06 [25]
2009–10 Ronald Moore G Sr Siena 34 261 7.68 [26]
2010–11 Aaron Johnson G Sr UAB 31 239 7.71 [27]
2011–12 Scott Machado G Sr Iona 33 327 9.91 [28]
2012–13 Jason Brickman G Jr LIU Brooklyn[a] 34 289 8.50 [29]
2013–14 Jason Brickman (2) G Sr LIU Brooklyn[a] 29 289 9.97 [30]
2014–15 Jalan West G Jr Northwestern State 32 246 7.69 [31]
2015–16 Kay Felder G Jr Oakland 35 324 9.26 [32]
2016–17 Lonzo Ball G Fr UCLA 36 274 7.61 [33]
2017–18 Trae Young G Fr Oklahoma 32 279 8.71 [34]
2018–19 Ja Morant G So Murray State 33 331 10.03 [35]
2019–20 Kameron Langley G Jr North Carolina A&T 31 247 7.96 [36]
2020–21 Jalen Moore G Jr Oakland 30 252 8.40 [37]
2021–22 Yuri Collins G Jr Saint Louis 34 267 7.85 [38]
2022–23 Yuri Collins (2) G Sr Saint Louis 32 324 10.12 [38]
2023–24 Tyler Kolek G Sr Marquette 31 239 7.71 [39]
  1. ^ a b At the time, Long Island University operated two separate athletic programs—the Division I LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds, representing the school's Brooklyn campus, and the Division II LIU Post Pioneers, representing the Post campus in Nassau County, New York. After the 2018–19 school year, the university merged its athletic programs, creating the current LIU Sharks. The Sharks inherited LIU Brooklyn's Division I and Northeast Conference memberships, as well as the history and records of all sports that the Brooklyn campus sponsored at the time of the merger.

References

General
  • "2022–23 NCAA Men's Basketball Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
Specific
  1. ^ "Basketball glossary". FIBA.com. Archived from the original on May 16, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c "History of the NCAA". NCAA.org. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Archived from the original on September 24, 2010. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  3. ^ "Avery Johnson bio". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, Inc. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c d e "2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Records" (PDF). 2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Media Guide. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2009. Retrieved May 25, 2010.
  5. ^ a b c "Avery Johnson". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  6. ^ a b c "Vipers Acquire Jared Jordan". NBA.com. Turner Sports Interactive, LLC. December 17, 2008. Archived from the original on December 26, 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  7. ^ a b c "2004–05 Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  8. ^ a b "Jason Kidd". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  9. ^ a b "T. J. Ford". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
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  13. ^ "Hall of Fame – Todd Lehmann". DrexelDragons.com. Drexel University. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
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  15. ^ Healey, Brendan (February 23, 1990). "A Knight to Champion Moorpark's Court". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  16. ^ "Assistant Coach: Nelson Haggerty". MSUMustangs.com. Midwestern State University. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
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  18. ^ "Ahlon Lewis". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  19. ^ "Doug Gottlieb". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
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  24. ^ Powell, Camille (March 30, 2008). "Davidson's Richards Is Feeding the Big Dog". NBA.com. The Washington Post. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  25. ^ "Johnathon Jones". Oakland University. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  26. ^ "Siena guard Ronald Moore charged with DWI". Sporting News. April 19, 2010. Archived from the original on April 22, 2010. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  27. ^ "Aaron Johnson Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
  28. ^ "Scott Machado Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. 2012. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  29. ^ "Jason Brickman Stats". Sports Reference LLC. 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  30. ^ "LIU Brooklyn's Jason Brickman becomes fourth player to 1,000 assists". NCAA.com. NCAA. March 2, 2014. Retrieved March 6, 2014.
  31. ^ "Jalan West Stats". Sports Reference LLC. 2015. Retrieved March 28, 2015.
  32. ^ "Kahlil Felder Stats". Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved March 31, 2016.
  33. ^ "Lonzo Ball Stats". Sports Reference LLC. 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  34. ^ "Trae Young Stats". Sports Reference LLC. 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  35. ^ "Ja Morant Stats". Sports Reference LLC. 2019. Retrieved March 24, 2019.
  36. ^ "Kameron Langley Stats". Sports Reference LLC. 2020. Retrieved March 13, 2020.
  37. ^ "Jalen Moore Stats". Sports Reference LLC. 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2021.
  38. ^ a b "Yuri Collins Stats". Sports Reference LLC. 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  39. ^ "Tyler Kolek Stats". Sports Reference LLC. 2024. Retrieved April 9, 2024.