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

In basketball, a steal is the act of legally gaining possession of the ball by a defensive player who causes the opponent to turn the ball over.[1] The National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I steal title is awarded to the player with the highest steals per game average in a given season. The steal title was first recognized in the 1985–86 season when statistics on steals were first compiled by the NCAA.[2]

Desmond Cambridge of Alabama A&M holds the all–time NCAA Division I records for single-season steals (160) and steals per game (5.52), which both occurred during the 2001–02 season. The all–time leader in career steals is Providence's Eric Murdock (376), although Murdock never led the NCAA in steals per game average. No player has ever repeated as the steals leader since it became an official statistic. Of the major yearly NCAA statistical leaders (points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals per game), this is the only category that has never had a player achieve the feat more than once.

When Chavis Holmes of Virginia Military Institute (VMI) secured his national steals title in 2008–09 at 3.39 spg, he and his brother Travis became the first pair of siblings in NCAA basketball history to lead the nation in the same statistical category. Travis had led the country with a 3.36 spg average in 2006–07. As of 2010, only two schools have had two different players win the steals title: Alabama A&M (2002, 2005) and VMI (2007, 2009). The lowest steals total for a national per game leader is 82, and the lowest steals per game average to win is 2.82, both of which occurred in 2009–10 and were achieved by Jay Threatt of Delaware State.

Three freshmen have led the nation in steals: Jason Kidd (1993), Joel Hoover (1997) and Devin Gibson (2008).[2][3][4][5] Among them, Kidd tallied the highest steals per game average (3.79) and the most total steals (110). He would also go on to lead the NCAA in assists the following season as a sophomore.[6]

Key

Pos. G F C SPG Ref.
Position Guard Forward Center Steals per game References
Class (Cl.) key
Fr Freshman So Sophomore Jr Junior Sr Senior
^ Player still competing in NCAA Division I
* Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player had been the
steals leader up to and including that season

Steals leaders

Season Player Pos. Cl. Team Games
played		 Steals SPG Ref.
1985–86 Brittman, DarronDarron Brittman G Sr Chicago State 28 139 4.96 [7]
1986–87 Fairley, TonyTony Fairley G Sr Charleston Southern 28 114 4.07 [2]
1987–88 Ware, AldwinAldwin Ware G Sr Florida A&M 29 142 4.90 [7]
1988–89 Robertson, KennyKenny Robertson G Jr Cleveland State 28 111 3.96 [8]
1989–90 McMahon, RonnRonn McMahon G Sr Eastern Washington 29 130 4.48 [7]
1990–91 Usher, VanVan Usher G Jr Tennessee Tech 28 104 3.71 [2]
1991–92 Snipes, VictorVictor Snipes G So Northeastern Illinois 25 86 3.44 [9]
1992–93 Kidd, JasonJason Kidd G Fr California 29 110 3.79 [3]
1993–94 Griggs, ShawnShawn Griggs G Sr Louisiana–Lafayette 30 120 4.00 [10]
1994–95 Anderson, RoderickRoderick Anderson G Sr Texas 30 101 3.37 [11]
1995–96 Williams, PointerPointer Williams G Sr McNeese State 27 118 4.37 [12]
1996–97 Hoover, JoelJoel Hoover G Fr Maryland–Eastern Shore 28 90 3.21 [4]
1997–98 Wells, BonziBonzi Wells G/F Sr Ball State 29 103 3.55 [13]
1998–99 Rogers, ShawntaShawnta Rogers G Sr George Washington 29 103 3.55 [14]
1999–00 Williams, CarlCarl Williams G Sr Liberty 28 107 3.82 [14]
2000–01 Daniels, GreedyGreedy Daniels G Jr TCU 25 108 4.32 [14]
2001–02 Cambridge, DesmondDesmond Cambridge G Sr Alabama A&M 29 160 5.52 [7]
2002–03 McMillan, AlexisAlexis McMillan G Sr Stetson 22 87 3.95 [14]
2003–04 Green, MarquesMarques Green G Sr St. Bonaventure 27 107 3.96 [14]
2004–05 Trotter, ObieObie Trotter G Jr Alabama A&M 32 125 3.91 [14]
2005–06 Smith, TimTim Smith G Sr ETSU 28 95 3.39 [14]
2006–07 Holmes, TravisTravis Holmes G So VMI 33 111 3.36 [14]
2007–08 Gibson, DevinDevin Gibson G Fr UTSA 28 93 3.32 [5]
2008–09 Holmes, ChavisChavis Holmes G Sr VMI 31 105 3.39 [14]
2009–10 Threatt, JayJay Threatt^ G So Delaware State 29 82 2.82 [15]
2010–11 Nelson, AnthonyAnthony Nelson G Sr Niagara 29 98 3.37 [16]

References

General
Specific
  1. ^ "Basketball glossary". FIBA.com. http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/baskBasi/glos.asp. Retrieved 24 May 2010. 
  2. ^ a b c d "2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Records" (PDF). 2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Media Guide. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2009. http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/m_basketball_RB/2010/D1.pdf. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  3. ^ a b "Jason Kidd". basketball-reference. Sports Reference LLC. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kiddja01.html. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  4. ^ a b "Joel Hoover stats". StatSheet.com. 2010. http://statsheet.com/mcb/players/player/maryland-eastern-shore/joel-hoover/1996-1997. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  5. ^ a b "UTSA's Devin Gibson Becomes The Third Freshman All-Time To Lead Nation In Steals". UTSA.com. University of Texas at San Antonio. 27 May 2008. http://www.southland.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18400&ATCLID=1474699. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  6. ^ "Jason Kidd Biography". jockbio.com. Black Book Partners, LLC. 2008. http://www.jockbio.com/Bios/Kidd/Kidd_bio.html. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  7. ^ a b c d "NCAA – Basketball (Season) Records: Steal average". ultimatesportsstats.com. 2010. http://www.ultimatesportsstats.com/ncaabasketballstats.htm. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  8. ^ "75th Anniversary Countdown". Cleveland State University. http://www.csuvikings.com/sports/m-baskbl/clst-m-baskbl-75countdown.html. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  9. ^ [web1.ncaa.org/web_files/NCAANewsArchive/1992/19920422.pdf "The NCAA News"] (PDF). NCAA.org. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2009. web1.ncaa.org/web_files/NCAANewsArchive/1992/19920422.pdf. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  10. ^ Spousta, Tom (18 March 1994). "Battle for throne under Dome begins today" (Google news archive). Sarasota Herald-Tribune. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19940318&id=A7ocAAAAIBAJ&sjid=R3wEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3201,3409903. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  11. ^ "Roderick Anderson – Founder and President". Fundamental Flavor. 2006. http://www.fundamentalflavor.com/roderick.htm. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  12. ^ "Men's Basketball" (PDF). Southland Conference. http://www.southland.org/fls/18400/pdf/2009MensBasketball.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=18400. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  13. ^ "Ball State University Basketball History". bsufans.com. Ball State University. 30 November 2003. http://bsufans.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=224. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Single Season Leaders and Records for Steals Per Game". Sports Reference, LLC. 2010. http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/leaders/stl-per-g-player-season.html. Retrieved 29 May 2010. 
  15. ^ "Sophomore Guard Jay Threatt Finishes Season No. 1 in Steals per Game". Delaware State University. March 2010. http://www.desu.edu/dsus-threatt-finishes-season-no-1-steals-game. Retrieved 19 May 2010. 
  16. ^ "Anthony Nelson Stats". ESPN Internet Ventures. 2011. http://espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=37448. Retrieved 21 March 2011. 
NCAA Division I men's basketball statistical leaders
Career
Season
Game