Kansas City, Mo. ? Aaron Miles doesn’t dwell on personal accomplishments.

“It’s nice, but I don’t think about that much. Probably next year or the year after, I’ll start to think about that stuff,” said Miles, Kansas University’s 6-foot-1 senior point guard from Portland, Ore., who rapidly is approaching two significant assist milestones.

Miles, who has 791 career assists, needs three to pass Oklahoma State’s Doug Gottlieb as the Big 12 Conference’s all-time assist leader. Miles could reach the milestone as early as tonight, when the Jayhawks tip off against Wisconsin-Milwaukee at 7 p.m. at Kemper Arena.

Miles is 14 shy of passing Jacque Vaughn as KU’s assist king. That all-time KU mark could fall in the Jayhawks’ New Year’s Day contest against Georgia Tech at Allen Fieldhouse.

Heck, it could fall tonight if Miles ties his single-game career mark in assists — 15 against Texas Tech his freshman season.

“As soon as I got here, I knew who the (KU) leader was,” Miles said of Vaughn, who played three years in the old Big Eight, “but I never really made it a goal like that. After my freshman year, I knew I had a chance to do that and a chance to break 1,000. If I could do those things and win all our games, I’d be happy.”

1,000 in reach

Miles — he had 252 assists as a rookie — still has a chance to become the fourth player in NCAA history to notch 1,000 assists. He has 53 assists against 20 turnovers this year and 791 assists to 344 turnovers for his career.

Turns out, Miles despises turning over the basketball.

Kansas University senior point guard Aaron Miles is approaching the Big 12 Conference and KU all-time records for career assists. Miles, who has 791, needs just three to break the Big 12 record and 14 to pass Jacque Vaughn as the top dish man in Jayhawk history.

“Before I ask how many assists I have, I ask how many turnovers,” Miles said of postgame stats. “I don’t want to have any turnovers, but they will happen trying to create. It’s very important to maintain possession of the ball.”

KU coach Bill Self has no complaints with the play of his unflappable floor leader.

“Aaron guards pretty well, and 95 percent of the time he takes care of the ball,” Self said. “He gets the ball to guys at the right time. He just plays with great energy. It’s fun to coach guys who have no agenda, none. All he wants to do is get the ball in transition to open guys.”

Like other famous point guards Miles tries to emulate.

“I’d say Magic Johnson,” Miles said. “You see highlights of him coming down the floor, looking to pass. Something like that I really like. I try to copy Isiah (Thomas) from that standpoint too — and try to play like Terrell Brandon some, since he’s from Portland.

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“I’ll my life I’ve watched point guards who are leaders, guys from my high school like Wendell Rayford and Tony Hopson. I’ve been told point guards are supposed to be leaders. I believe that,” added Miles, who earned McDonald’s All America honors his senior year at Jefferson High.

Vaughn clone

Some say Miles, a career 41 percent shooter who is hitting a robust 52.6 percent of his shots this season, is a lot like Vaughn, another team-chemistry guy known for passing — not shooting.

“I’ve seen highlight tapes. I’ve never watched him (on TV). I don’t recall what he did. I heard he wanted to win,” Miles said of Vaughn, a New Jersey Nets veteran from Pasadena, Calif. “He got his teammates involved. That’s what we all like to do.”

Miles’ teammates feed off the fact he’s a pass-first point guard.

“He gets energy off passing the ball,” senior Keith Langford said. “He’s been doing it a long time at the highest level. He plays the best floor game of anybody I’ve played with.

“I laugh after Aaron has a big game — everybody in the media wants to know about Aaron. What about Aaron? Aaron is the man. He does it every game. He should be mentioned among the elite point guards in the country.”

Kansas University men's basketball coach Bill Self, right, talks to an official during the Jayhawks' game against South Carolina. KU beat the Gamecocks on Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

National acclaim generally escapes Miles. He averages 7.6 assists per game, which ranks second in the country to Mercer’s Damitrius Coleman (9.2).

“Aaron hasn’t gotten a lot of hype. He’s good at blocking it out,” said Miles’ best friend, teammate Michael Lee. “It’s never defined him. He won’t explode for 20 points. That’s not his game. With him, the common thing is winning. Every year you can count on his team being in the thick of things.”

Lots of guards

Self wishes Miles would receive more praise.

“It’s unfortunate Aaron hasn’t gotten the recognition he deserves,” Self said, “but I also think this, he’ll get his recognition if we win. Unfortunately for him, if one wants individual recognition this is a bad year to be a point guard because there are a lot of real good ones across America and they are splitting the publicity.”

Self listed guys like Wake Forest’s Chris Paul, Notre Dame’s Chris Thomas, Illinois’ Deron Williams, North Carolina’s Raymond Felton, Georgia Tech’s Jarrett Jack and Maryland’s John Gilchrist.

“On and on down the line,” Self said. “He’s a victim of that, but that doesn’t matter to him. All he cares about is winning.”

Miles never has been about seeing his mug on SportsCenter unless he’s seen dealing an alley oop to, say, J.R. Giddens, for a slam and two easy points.

“It doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t bother me when people don’t say anything at all,” said Miles, who some analysts consider a possible second-round pick in the 2005 NBA Draft. “Hey, there are a ton of guards out there, and all are good.”

‘Heart and soul’

It heartens Miles when his coaches and teammates say positive things.

“Aaron is our leader, our backbone,” sophomore Giddens said.

“He’s the heart and soul of our team,” senior Wayne Simien said. “He’s the biggest winner I’ve been around.”

“If I was a player,” intoned Self, a former standout player at Oklahoma State, “I’d love to play with Aaron Miles.”

And he’d love to hang out with Aaron Miles, known as perhaps the biggest prankster on the team. Miles gave a preview of his personality the day he signed a letter of intent with KU.

He entered a packed Jefferson High gym on an early November day and told an assembly: “I have I have decided to hold off until the spring because I am not ready to make a decision,” Miles said, drawing a gasp from the attendees.

He then ripped off his shirt, unveiling a KU basketball jersey with his name and the No. 11 on the back.

“I believe Kansas is the best fit for me, plus I’ve got my boy coming with me,” Miles said.

That would be his lifelong pal, Lee.

“Aaron,” Lee said, “is one of a kind. You never know what’s going to come out of his mouth. I’m real happy for his success, but I know what he wants more than anything. He wants a national championship. That’s what we all want.”