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

In basketball, an assist is a pass to a teammate that directly leads to a score by field goal.^[1] The top 25 highest assists totals in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball history are listed below. 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 spring 1973, colleges were classified as either "NCAA University Division (Major College)" or "NCAA College Division (Small College)".^[2][3] Assists are a relatively new statistic in college basketball, having only become an official statistic beginning with the 1983–84 season.^[3] According to the 2009–10 NCAA Division I men's basketball media guide, however, there were two seasons in the early 1950s in which assists were recorded: 1950–51 and 1951–52.^[3]

The all-time leader in career assists is Bobby Hurley of Duke. He recorded 1,076 assists in 140 games (7.68 per game average) between 1989–90 and 1992–93. He also led the Blue Devils to consecutive national championships in 1991 and 1992. Second on the list is Chris Corchiani of NC State, another Atlantic Coast Conference school. In his four seasons, Corchiani compiled 1,038 assists. Only one other player besides Hurley and Corchiani has recorded 1,000 career assists at the Division I level: Ed Cota of North Carolina (1,030). Sherman Douglas of Syracuse is the only player on this list who also recorded 20 or more assists in a single game at both the Division I and National Basketball Association levels. For his college career, he played in 138 games while recording 960 assists.

Three schools in the top 25 all-time career assist leaders list are represented by more than one player; Bradley, Duke and Notre Dame each have two players. For Bradley, the players are Jim Les and Anthony Manuel; for Duke, they are Hurley and Chris Duhon; and for Notre Dame, they are Doug Gottlieb and Chris Thomas. However, Gottlieb split his career between Notre Dame and Oklahoma State, so his career total is not exclusive to the Fighting Irish.

Key

Assists leaders

References

General

• "2010–11 NCAA Men's Basketball Records" (PDF). 2010–11 NCAA Men's Basketball Media Guide. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2010. http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/m_basketball_RB/2011/D1.pdf. Retrieved 12 February 2011. 

Specific