Gonzaga legend before Gonzaga was famous — quietly became the greatest assists man in basketball history.
John Houston Stockton was born in Spokane, Washington in 1962 and chose to attend the local Gonzaga University at a time when the school was completely unknown nationally in basketball. His four-year career produced 20.9 points and 7.2 assists per game — numbers that made him the West Coast Conference's most productive guard. He was the WCC Player of the Year and was named to the All-WCC team four consecutive times. He was Gonzaga's all-time leading scorer at graduation. Utah Jazz selected him 16th overall in the 1984 NBA Draft — a pick that in retrospect might be the greatest value in draft history given what he produced professionally. His Gonzaga career — at a school most NBA scouts had to look up on a map — established that elite talent could emerge from anywhere. He went on to become the all-time NBA leader in assists and steals, records so large they are effectively permanent. His four years at Gonzaga are studied as the foundation of a career built on intelligence, unselfishness and an almost inhuman consistency that the NBA had never seen from a point guard position.
WCC Player of Year
Career Honours
- WCC Player of Year
- All-WCC 4x
- Gonzaga career scoring leader