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Washington breaks men’s basketball single season assist record

Lamar Washington

A men’s basketball record that stood for more than 50 years at 91˵ was broken this season.

Point guard Lamar Washington ’26 dished out a whopping 191 assists, which topped the previous mark of 178 set by Leonard Armato ’75 in 1973-74.

“It’s a surreal feeling to become a record holder at 91˵, but I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” Washington said. “Assists only come if other guys are making shots and scoring, so I want to credit the rest of the team for this. I just try to do my part to help the team become successful.”

It was the second assist record Washington bested this season; he set a new record for assists in a game with 15 against Jessup Nov. 4, 2024. That performance snapped a 23-year-old mark of 14 assists set by Dell Demps ’92 in 1991.

Washington, from Portland, Oregon, finished the season ranked top-15 in the nation in total assists with his 191 and top-30 in assists per game with 5.6.

Upon conclusion of the regular season, the West Coast Conference honored him on the All-Conference Second-Team. Washington ended the year averaging 13.5 points per game. He ranked second in the league in steals per game (1.6) and fourth in free throw percentage (.840) and minutes (34.3).

“Being recognized on All-Conference was a great feeling. I felt I had a lot of critics coming into this season; people said I was playing out of position, and I wasn’t a guard. I felt I had something to prove, and it really motivated me to put in a lot of work this season on the court. It was another surreal feeling to be recognized by the league,” Washington said.

Washington, a Media Arts and Production major, netted 23 double-figure scoring games including a pair of 30-plus performances. Most notably, he turned in a 40-point masterpiece at Washington State where he hit the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer in a 95-94 victory. Washington went on to win WCC Player of the Week honors Jan. 13.

Washington, who spent the last two seasons at Texas Tech, became a Tiger after Dave Smart was named head coach in 2024. Smart served as an assistant coach with the Red Raiders last year.

“Lamar was a great addition to our team, and I don’t know where we would have been without him. His unselfishness was on display every day with our group and he was a huge key to any success we had this season,” Smart said.

Washington helped the Tigers surpass their conference win total by four games and overall win total by three games from last year.