Most Assists in College Basketball History

College basketball has been defined by the players who could light up a scoreboard — they headline the teams that win national championships and All-American teams. 

But behind every great scorer in NCAA history is a player who was selfless. Someone who made sure that star player had the ball in their hands at the right moments and in the right spots. It’s the point guard who keeps the team running smoothly and moving in the right direction. 

There’s not a lot of fanfare that comes with dishing out assists, but the very best to ever do it never really cared about grabbing headlines. Here’s a look at the players with the most assists in college basketball history. 

Born: Unknown

High school: Mount Vernon High School (Alexandria, Virginia)

Career highlights: Two-time All-Sun Belt (1986, 1988), AP All-American (1988), Sun Belt All-Rookie Team (1985)

Bottom line: Frank Smith was a star point guard and option quarterback at Mount Vernon High who had football offers from Nebraska, Notre Dame and USC, among others, but chose to play basketball for Old Dominion instead. 

Smith made history for ODU as he set Sun Belt Conference career records for both assists and steals and averaged almost 40 minutes per game over his last three seasons.

Note: All career assists leaders through the end of the 2022-23 season

Born: August 18, 1963 (Niles, Illinois)

High school: Notre Dame College Prep (Niles, Illinois)

Career highlights: MVC Player of the Year (1986), Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award (1986)

Bottom line: Jim Les left Bradley as No. 2 on the NCAA’s career assists leaderboard and was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year as a senior in 1986.  

Les, just 5-foot-11, played six seasons in the NBA and eight seasons of professional basketball. Les was Bradley’s head coach from 2002 to 2011 and led the Braves to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 2006. He’s been the head coach at UC Davis since 2011. 

Born: February 28, 1998 (Detroit, Michigan)

High school: University of Detroit Jesuit Academy (Detroit, Michigan)

Career highlights: Two-time AP All-American (2019, 2020), Big Ten Player of the Year (2019), three-time All-Big Ten (2018-20), Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player (2019), Michigan Mr. Basketball (2016)

Bottom line: Few schools have the great history of point guards that Michigan State has, with legendary players like Magic Johnson, Mateen Cleaves and, most recently, Cassius Winston. Winston was a two-time All-American for the Spartans and was named Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 2019. 

Born: October 25, 1977 (Osceola, Arkansas)

High school: Osceola High School (Osceola, Arkansas)

Career highlights: AP All-American (1999), two-time Sun Belt Player of the Year (1998, 1999), three-time All-Sun Belt (1998-2000), Sun Belt Tournament MVP (1999)

Bottom line: Standing at just 5-foot-6, Arkansas State’s Chico Fletcher is the shortest player to make this list and had an unusual path to college basketball stardom — Fletcher came to Arkansas State on a football scholarship but decided to try out for the basketball team as a walk-on following his redshirt freshman year on the football team. 

Fletcher became a starter for Arkansas State early in his first year before eventually becoming a two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and leading his school to the first and only NCAA Tournament appearance in 1999.