Kentucky basketball could lead the nation in assist rate

It’s the summer. They were glorified exhibition games. The competition wasn’t top-quality. It was only four games. Insert all your completely valid caveats here, but then take a minute to get a little excited at the fact that, at GLOBL Jam, we witnessed some of the most fun basketball from a Kentucky team in a proverbial coon’s age.

The spacing was fantastic, the driving lanes were wide, the 3-pointers were plentiful, and the shot chart was the chef’s kiss. However, what really stood out to me was the team’s assist rate. Out of 142 made field goals during the team’s gold-medal run, Kentucky assisted on 103 of them.

That is an astounding 72% assist rate.

To put that in perspective, the leader in Division I last season, Lafayette, finished with an assist rate of 68.8%, a full two percentage points ahead of the best amongst Power-5 schools, those dirty rotten Volunteers from Tennessee who assisted on 66.2% of their made field goals.

For what it is worth, the National Champion UConn Huskies, finished 8th in the NCAA in assist rate at 63.2%.

If Kentucky were to maintain that 72% assist rate throughout the regular season (and to be fair, that is a gargantuan if), then they would not only likely lead the nation but have the best assist rate of any college basketball team since 2010.

Kentucky assist rates during the Calipari era

Despite all the criticism of Kentucky’s offense last season, the team actually finished with the best assist rate of the Calipari era at 55.3%. This is nowhere near the 72% this year’s squad put up in Canada, but it was good for 69th overall in the NCAA last year, the highest finish for any Calipari-coached Kentucky team.

Cal’s second-highest assist rate actually came the year prior, when the ‘Cats assisted on 55.1% of their field goals.

Call it the Sahvir Wheeler effect. Say what you want about how his career finished in Lexington, but the guy was an assist machine.

Atop the non-Sahvir Wheeler teams during the Cal era, it might not be surprising to see the shoulda-coulda-woulda been undefeated 2015 team. They had a 55% assist rate overall, but during that game-we-shall-not-speak-of, the team bowed out of the Final Four in a contest that saw just 26.9% of their field goals come by way of an assist.

It shouldn’t be a surprise that teams led by elite guards like John Wall, De’Aaron Fox, and Tyrese Maxey also finished in the top half of Calipari assist rates.

Kentucky Team	Assist Rate	National Rank
2021-22	55.3%	112
2022-23	55.1%	69
2014-15	55.0%	135
2009-10	53.8%	164
2019-20	52.2%	165
2016-17	51.6%	182
2018-19	51.2%	193
2012-13	51.1%	231
2020-21	50.9%	197
2015-16	49.8%	231
2017-18	48.9%	257
2011-12	48.4%	295
2010-11	48.1%	297
2013-14	44.1%	324

A high assist rate doesn’t necessarily mean success and vice versa

As evident by the teams from the last two seasons, having a high assist rate doesn’t automatically equate to successful seasons. On the flip side, a low assist rate doesn’t mean the team is doomed for misery either.

Kentucky’s 2012 team finished 295th out of 345 D-I teams with an assist rate of 48.4%. That team, as you might fondly recall, went on to win the National Championship and was the by far the best team in the nation all season.

One positive team attribute that leads to a low assist rate is the number of fast break points a team puts up. Kentucky was great at forcing turnovers and/or getting the ball out quickly after an Anthony Davis block, which led to a lot of easy field goals. These field goals just did not necessarily come by way of an assist.

Also, as with any assist stat, the assist rate does not give credit to good passes that led to missed open looks.

All that aside, the assist rate stat is a great indicator of fun basketball, and Big Blue Nation witnessed exactly that during GLOBL Jam. With a dynamic playmaker at the point in DJ Wagner alongside heady passers like Tre Mitchell and Reed Sheppard (not to mention the casual nine-assist game from Rob Dillingham), this team’s unselfishness is going to bring a lot of joy both on the court and in to living rooms around Kentucky all season long.