Braden Smith etched his name in Purdue history on Friday night. The junior guard surpassed Bruce Parkinson as the program’s all-time assist leader, now sitting at 696 assists and counting. Even sweeter was that he accomplished the incredible feat in a 76-66 win over UCLA at Mackey Arena.
When the game was over, though, Smith didn’t take a lot of the credit for breaking Parkinson’s record. Instead, he wanted to give the credit to his teammates. He knows that all of them — past and present — have played a major role in his success at Purdue.
“It’s obviously an honor, but at the end of the day, I’m surrounded by such great players and it makes my job so much easier,” Smith said after Friday’s game. “I just thank them and thank all the people that I’ve played with because I wouldn’t be here without them. (If its) guys that can’t shoot the ball, obviously I’m not going to get those assists. They continue to put work in every single day.
“Like I said, it makes my job so much easier. So, I just want to thank all of my teammates.”
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All-time career assist leader in @BoilerBall history, Braden Smith ‼️#B1GMBBall on FOX 📺 pic.twitter.com/kUT9TZKxPw
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) March 1, 2025
Entering Friday night’s game, Smith needed just three assists to pass Parkinson’s all-time record. The former Boiler dished out 690 dimes from 1972-77. Smith hit that total early in the first half at Mackey Arena, finishing the night with eight assists. He also had 23 points in the victory.
This season, Smith is averaging 8.7 assists per game. For his career, he’s averaging 6.7 assists per game.
Smith is right, without having great players around him, he wouldn’t be able to break such an impressive record. But the guard deserves a lot of credit. Breaking a mark that stood at Purdue for nearly 50 years is a remarkable feat.
With at least four games remaining in the 2024-25 campaign and a full season of eligibility left, Smith now has a chance to shatter Purdue’s old record and make his mark nearly unreachable.
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