‘He’s a wizard:’ Gonzaga coaches, teammates reflect on Ryan Nembhard’s special season

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Ryan Nembhard dribbled around Braden Huff’s screen and was swarmed by two Houston defenders at the top of the circle. Another Cougar left Khalif Battle on the wing to cover Huff near the free-throw line.

Nembhard made the right read and tossed a pass to Battle, who promptly drilled a 3-pointer with 5 minutes, 34 seconds remaining – the 344th and final assist of Nembhard’s college career.

In the aftermath of Gonzaga’s 81-76 second-round loss to Houston, teammates and head coach Mark Few dished out perspective on Nembhard’s record-shattering season.

“He gets you the ball before you even know you’re open,” senior forward Ben Gregg said inside GU’s cramped locker room in Wichita, Kansas. “He’s a wizard. It’s been crazy to have a point guard like that the last two years.

“My best friend, it’s going to be weird not playing with him again, but I know he’s off to do great, amazing things in the future. I can’t wait to see what it looks like.”

The 6-foot, 180-pound Nembhard hopes to join older brother Andrew, a former GU standout now with the Indiana Pacers, in the NBA. Ryan is projected in the second round/undrafted range in a few mock drafts.

Nembhard’s 344 assists rank fifth in NCAA Division I history and broke GU’s single-season record that he set as a junior by 101 in the same number of games (35). Only four other Zags – Josh Perkins, Matt Santangelo, Blake Stepp and John Stockton – have had at least 200 in a season.

Nembhard finished with 10 points and 11 assists against Houston for his 13th double-double of the season. That ranked tied for 24th nationally, but he was the only point guard on the list.

“Incredible, incredible. He’s as good a guard as I’ve ever coached. I mean, he has the heart of a champion,” Few said. “Just delivers, delivers, delivers.”

Few called it crazy that Nembhard wasn’t in the final five for the Cousy Award, presented annually to the nation’s top point guard. Few delivered…

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Publish date : 2025-04-02 03:59:00

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