Junior guard Frankie Collins’ defensive aggressiveness is tough to match and one of the most important aspects of his game. Thursday night, Collins passed Fat Lever to set the single-season steals record in Arizona State basketball history.
Collins picked up three steals against Washington to reach 77 steals on the season. The junior has increased his production in that department in each season. Collins picked up 12 steals as a freshman at Michigan and 43 last season with ASU. He is averaging nearly three steals per game this season and on pace for almost 90 steals.
Lever held the previous record with 76 steals in the 1981-82 season and was tied for the second most with Eddie House who gathered 74 steals in the 1999-20 season.
Frankie Collins shatters single-season steals record at ASU
House and Lever sit at No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, for most career steals in ASU history. Both guards played all four years of college with the Sun Devils. Collins has 123 career steals for ASU, which sits outside the top 10 in ASU history.
If Collins returns for his senior year, it’s almost certain he’ll break the top 10 and likely the top 5 in program history. Marcell Capers sits at No. 10 with 141 steals and Jason Braxton closes out the top five with 166 career steals.
With the pace Collins is on if he finishes this season and plays a full senior season, he could reach more than 210 career steals. That would put him at No. 4 in ASU history just behind Lever. Collins would need 136 more steals to pass House and become the career steals leader in program history.
Collins’ record-breaking steal came in the final minute of regulation against Washington amid a 25-point comeback to send the game to overtime. ASU would go on to lose the game in overtime, but it was a monumental night for the leader of the Sun Devils regardless.
Defense is the backbone of ASU basketball and has been since head coach Bobby Hurley arrived. Collins’ intensity on that end of the floor is a perfect example of the defense Hurley prides his team on.
Consistency
There have only been two games this season where Collins did not record a steal. On the other hand, he’s earned five or more steals five times this season, including a career-high eight steals against UMass Lowell.
Collins may have achieved the steals record, but don’t expect anything in his play to change. He has four more games before the conference tournament to add to those numbers and represent the highest level of ASU defense.
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