The No. 8 Purdue Boilermakers are in the middle of taking on the No. 13 Michigan Spartans on Thursday, in what has been a competitive first half. However, guard Braden Smith stole the spotlight early in the contest, as he made college basketball history.
Smith, who is a senior guard, became just the fifth player in NCAA history to reach 1,000 career assists in college basketball. Purdue announced the record on X, formerly known as Twitter, giving him a warm congratulations for his career achievement.
“Braden Smith is 5th player in NCAA history to dish out 1,000 career assists.”
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🫳🪙 Braden Smith is 5th player in @NCAA history to dish out 1,000 career assists. pic.twitter.com/UqKVFb9rWJ
— Purdue Men's Basketball (@BoilerBall) February 27, 2026
The all-time record was set by Bobby Hurley with 1,076 back in 1993 with the Duke Blue Devils. Braden Smith also joins Chris Corchiani (1,038), Ed Cota (1,030), and Jason Brickman (1,009) as the only players to ever reach 1,000 career assists.
With three games remaining in the regular season after Thursday's contest, along with the Big Ten tournament and the March Madness Tournament still to play, the Purdue star will have a chance to surpass some of these college basketball legends. His 8.7 assists per game average suggests he very well could record about 100 more assists.
Smith has been a stud for this program since joining Purdue in 2022. He's been a starter since he was a freshman, making him one of the most talented point guards in the nation. Braden Smith has played in at least 35 games each season of his collegiate career so far, and is well on pace to do so again.
Purdue's star guard entered Thursday's game averaging 14.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 8.7 assists, and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 47.5% from the floor and 41.2% from beyond the three-point line.
