March 20, 2026Updated March 21, 2026, 12:28 a.m. ET
There’s a new assist king in college basketball.
Purdue guard Braden Smith is the all-time leader in assists, breaking Bobby Hurley’s record in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Queens on Friday, March 20. The senior from Indiana got the record on a dish to Trey Kaufman-Renn in the first half.
Smith now has 1,077 assists in his four year career with the Boilermakers. Purdue fans at the game gave Smith a standing ovation for the achievement.
One of the most prolific passers in the sport, Smith entered his senior year within striking distance of reaching Hurley’s record from his time at Duke from 1990-93, and has continue to find buckets for teammates. He entered the day averaging nine assists per game, second-most in the country.
Hurley previously told USA TODAY Sports he has “always admired” how Smith plays. He was surprised his record stood for more than 30 years, and while he said he couldn’t dictate who was worthy of breaking it, Hurley believed Smith was the right player to become the new leader.
“To have someone that would take it down, (Smith) would be the type of person that I would really respect having the record,” Hurley said.
Smith collected the record after a sensational run in the Big Ten tournament that was capped off with the conference title.
He entered conference championship week with 1,029 assists, in fourth place of the leaderboard and 47 assists away from Hurley’s record. There was uncertainty if he would be able to beat the record by the time his career was over, but he was dishing it out at an incredible rate in Chicago to set himself up to break the record in the first round of March Madness.
The guard went into March Madness needing just two assists to set the new record.
It was nearly foretold by Purdue coach Matt Painter, who told USA TODAY Sports in January the record would “come because you get to the championship game of the Big Ten tournament, you get to the Final Four.” Turns out, he didn’t need March Madness to do it.
Smith told USA TODAY Sports ahead of the tournament he was “ready to just get it over with” so he could put all of the attention toward winning Purdue’s first national championship. Now with that in hand, the decorated guard can go for the two goals he had for his senior season.
“That’s one of the reasons I came back, was to win and to get the record,” he said. “Obviously, wanted to do it at a place that I’ve been for the three years prior. For me, just to be around a great bunch of guys and obviously great coaching staff, and do it with them, I think it makes it more special.”
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