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. 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. From 1906 to 1955, there were no classifications to the NCAA nor its predecessor, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS). Then, from 1956 to 1973, colleges were classified as either "NCAA University Division (Major College)" or "NCAA College Division (Small College)".

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. 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. From 1952–53 to 1982–83, the official NCAA record book has no assists per game leaders. 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. 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.

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. Three 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); 1999–2000 leader Mark Dickel of UNLV, born in New Zealand; and 2024–25 leader Ryan Nembhard, born in Canada.

Key

Pos.GFCAPGRef.PositionGuardForwardCenterAssists per gameReferences Class (Cl.) keyFr FreshmanSo SophomoreJr JuniorSr Senior

^ Player still active in NCAA Division I*Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame†Denotes a tie for the season's assists leaderPlayer (X)Denotes the number of times the player had been theassists leader up to and including that season

Assists leaders

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 PlayerPos. Cl. Team Gamesplayed Assists APGRef. 1950–51 G Toledo 29 210 7.24 1951–52 G Boston College 27 213 7.89 1953–83 No assists leaders recorded 1983–84 G UIC 29 274 9.45 1984–85 G Hofstra 24 228 9.50 1985–86 G 36 328 9.11 1986–87 G Southern 31 333 10.74 1987–88 (2) G Southern 30 399 13.30 1988–89 G Holy Cross 28 278 9.93 1989–90 G Drexel 28 260 9.29 1990–91 G NC State 31 299 9.65 1991–92 G Tennessee Tech 29 254 8.76 1992–93 G New Mexico State 34 310 9.12 1993–94 * G California 30 272 9.07 1994–95 G Baylor 28 284 10.14 1995–96 G UC Irvine 27 230 8.52 1996–97 G Dartmouth 26 203 7.81 1997–98 G Arizona State 32 294 9.19 1998–99 G Oklahoma State 34 299 8.79 1999–00 G UNLV 31 280 9.03 2000–01 G Cal State Northridge 32 286 8.94 2001–02 G Texas 33 273 8.27 2002–03 G UIC 30 244 8.13 2003–04 G Troy 31 256 8.26 2004–05† G Mercer 28 224 8.00 G Portland State 28 224 8.00 2005–06 G Marist 29 247 8.52 2006–07 (2) G Marist 33 286 8.67 2007–08 G Davidson 36 293 8.14 2008–09 G Oakland 36 290 8.06 2009–10 G Siena 34 261 7.68 2010–11 G UAB 31 239 7.71 2011–12 G Iona 33 327 9.91 2012–13 G LIU Brooklyn 34 289 8.50 2013–14 (2) G LIU Brooklyn 29 289 9.97 2014–15 G Northwestern State 32 246 7.69 2015–16 G Oakland 35 324 9.26 2016–17 G UCLA 36 274 7.61 2017–18 G Oklahoma 32 279 8.71 2018–19 G Murray State 33 331 10.03 2019–20 G North Carolina A&T 31 247 7.96 2020–21 G Oakland 30 252 8.40 2021–22 G Saint Louis 34 267 7.85 2022–23 (2) G Saint Louis 32 324 10.12 2023–24 G Marquette 31 239 7.71 2024–25 G Gonzaga 35 344 9.82 2025–26 ^ G Michigan State 35 328 9.37

Multiple-time leaders RankPlayerTeamTimes leaderYears1Jason BrickmanLIU Brooklyn22012–13, 2013–14Yuri CollinsSaint Louis2021–22, 2022–23Avery JohnsonSouthern1986–87, 1987–88Jared JordanMarist2005–06, 2006–07

References General

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