2026 Season Preview: Returning Top Efficient Assist Leaders

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The opening week of the 2025-2026 season has started, prompting my revisit to the topic of top returning efficient assist leaders. Sourcing my data from the Kansas Girls Basketball section of <a href="https://www.maxpreps.com/ks/basketball/girls/stat-leaders/">MaxPreps</a> I looked at total assists and assists-to-turnovers ratio for players meeting the following criteria:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:list {"ordered":true} --> <ol class="wp-block-list"><!-- wp:list-item --> <li>&nbsp;Played in 20 or more games;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>&nbsp;Dished out 50 or more assists;</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>&nbsp;Averaged 2.5 assists per game; and</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --> <!-- wp:list-item --> <li>&nbsp;Had a assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.5 or greater.</li> <!-- /wp:list-item --></ol> <!-- /wp:list --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Numerous players had greater than a 1.5 ratio but averaged under 2.5 assists per game.  Of those with a ratio just above 1.5 only players with a substantial number of assists were included. Others made the assists per game mark but came in just shy of the ratio or did not generate enough assists.  Still more did not play in enough games.  And then there are players that could not be included because no turnover data was reported. Players were selected using the same criteria as before save for one change. The assist-to-turnover ratio has been bumped up to 1.5 from 1.4 for brevity.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Four players return from last year's list. The group is led by three-time member [player_tooltip player_id='1116017' first='Bethany' last='Simmelink'], Rock Hills' point guard. Bucklin's [player_tooltip player_id='621267' first='Emerson' last='Kirk'] repeats as does Andover's [player_tooltip player_id='791747' first='Bella' last='Bouddhara'] and Rawlins County's [player_tooltip player_id='779244' first='Camden' last='Franklin']. New addition [player_tooltip player_id='525609' first='Regan' last='Becker'] is a transfer from St. James Academy. Players are listed by class, then by assists-to-turnovers ratio.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:table {"hasFixedLayout":false} --> <figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>Name</td><td>Height</td><td>Pos</td><td>School</td><td>Games</td><td>Assists</td><td>APG</td><td>TOs</td><td>A/TO</td></tr><tr><td><strong>2026</strong></td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='766788' first='Adelynne' last='Strecker']</td><td>5'4"</td><td>SG</td><td>Little River</td><td>23</td><td>95</td><td>4.1</td><td>26</td><td>3.65</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1116017' first='Bethany' last='Simmelink']</td><td>5'6"</td><td>PG</td><td>Rock Hills</td><td>20</td><td>91</td><td>4.6</td><td>46</td><td>1.98</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='621267' first='Emerson' last='Kirk']</td><td>5'6"</td><td>PG</td><td>Bucklin</td><td>23</td><td>105</td><td>4.6</td><td>60</td><td>1.75</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='525609' first='Regan' last='Becker']</td><td>6'0"</td><td>CG</td><td>Blue Valley Northwest</td><td>22</td><td>99</td><td>4.5</td><td>58</td><td>1.71</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1047965' first='Jadence' last='Stewart']</td><td>5'9"</td><td>SG</td><td>Greeley County</td><td>21</td><td>72</td><td>3.4</td><td>47</td><td>1.53</td></tr><tr><td><strong>2027</strong></td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td><td>&nbsp;</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='723402' first='Taylor' last='McCarty']</td><td>5'9"</td><td>CG</td><td>Cheylin</td><td>21</td><td>89</td><td>4.2</td><td>39</td><td>2.28</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='791747' first='Bella' last='Bouddhara']</td><td>5'6"</td><td>SG</td><td>Andover</td><td>25</td><td>75</td><td>3</td><td>34</td><td>2.21</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1224673' first='Asiah' last='Sullivan']</td><td>5'6"</td><td>PG</td><td>Andover</td><td>25</td><td>74</td><td>3</td><td>36</td><td>2.06</td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='779244' first='Camden' last='Franklin']</td><td>5'6</td><td>CG</td><td>Rawlins County</td><td>22</td><td>90</td><td>4.1</td><td>60</td><td>1.5</td></tr><tr><td><strong>2028</strong></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>[player_tooltip player_id='1112925' first='DaLiyah' last='Williams']</td><td>5'7"</td><td>PG</td><td>Olathe North</td><td>24</td><td>97</td><td>4</td><td>59</td><td>1.64</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> <!-- /wp:table -->