When the Green Wave defeated Central Florida 71-70 Jan. 13 in Orlando, Florida, senior guard Jamie Kaplan finished with a team-high of six assists, as she played in her home state of Florida with her family in the stands.

Those six assists, however, helped Kaplan hit the 500 career assists mark and move into the No. 2 place on Tulane’s all-time career assists list. Kaplan trails just Ashley Langford, who finished her career with 722 assists. 

“Having my family there is definitely something I will always remember,” Kaplan said. “They were excited to actually get to watch it live instead on a computer screen, and I was really happy I could get it done that night.”

Despite the accolades, passing was not initially Kaplan’s bread and butter. Kaplan said in high school she was more of a scorer because that is what her team needed. Since coming to Tulane, however, she has taken the role of a passer and has developed wonderfully.

“We have the right group of girls where I can just set people up and they can finish for me,” Kaplan said. “I love getting everybody in the right spots, getting the play called and getting it executed perfectly.”

Kaplan said she had not thought about surpassing 500 assists prior to this season because she was always just focused on playing the game.

“It didn’t even cross my mind at all [freshman year] that this is something I could achieve,” Kaplan said. “I had no idea what my role would be coming in and as the years went on, it became clear that I was getting [more and more] assists. It probably wasn’t until this year that I realized I could get 500.” 

Prior to the win against UCF, Kaplan was three assists shy from passing graduate assistant Olivia Grayson, who had 499 assists, on the career assists list. During her junior season, Kaplan broke the single season record with 209 assists, passing Langford’s 207 set back in the 2006-07 season, in addition to her 6.7 assists per game being a Tulane regular season record.

Kaplan now ranks No. 8 in career assists among all active NCAA Division I women’s basketball players, which she said is an extremely humbling experience since assists are such a huge part of her game.

With just half of her senior season left to play, Kaplan has high hopes for the Wave and what it can achieve. 

“We’re playing well in conference play right now and I’d love to go to the NCAA tournament before I graduate,” Kaplan said. “My number one goal is to have everyone work together to make it to the Big Dance.”