The Gonzaga senior recently became the conference’s all-time single-season assists leader at 295 and counting.
Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard made his mark in history with a lob to a flying Michael Ajayi during the 95-76 win at Santa Clara this past Tuesday. He set the West Coast Conference single-season assists record with 285 (now 295), passing Saint Mary’s Emmett Naar’s mark in 2017-18.
Ryan Nembhard is MAKING PLAYS tonight for @ZagMBB ✅
With his 285th assist, our @jerseymikes Naismith Men’s College Midseason Team player just topped the @WCChoops single-season assist record!#JerseyMikesNaismith2025 | : @CBSSportsCBB pic.twitter.com/uVAx0BIR50
— Naismith Awards (@NaismithTrophy) February 26, 2025
The #WCChoops Single Season Assist Record belongs to Ryan Nembhard from @ZagMBB pic.twitter.com/ZXYZNZWTzi
— WCC Basketball (@WCChoops) February 26, 2025
Ever since he stepped onto campus, Nembhard made it his purpose to be a vocal leader on the floor and look to get others involved before himself. He has learned loads from the guidance of his brother Andrew Nembhard of the Indiana Pacers and Gonzaga coach Mark Few.
“It’s so well-deserved for him to put his name on a record that’ll last quite some time. I go to bed every night & thank the lord that he’s our point guard & you sleep a lot better when you have a point guard like that.” – Gonzaga coach Mark Few via Spokesman Review
He is in the running for multiple national individual awards this season:
Wooden Award
Naismith Trophy
Bob Cousy Award
The assists leader in the nation at 9.8 per game (295 total assists in 30 games) also has a 4.15 assist-to-turnover ratio (71 total turnovers in 30 games) which is currently second in the country. At 6’0, Nembhard has put together 12 double-doubles which is tied for the 14th most in all of college basketball.
He was also the first player in the nation to both 100 and 200 assists this season (soon to be 300 as well). Nembhard represents his home country hard and is the Canadian D-1 record for career assists at 833 career assists. That number puts him at No. 35 in college basketball history and is just 30 assists away from reaching the Top 25.
Nembhard’s name should be up there in association with the greats like Gonzaga’s John Stockton, Santa Clara’s Steve Nash, Saint Mary’s Matthew Dellavedova and all the others that have come through the West Coast Conference. A run in his final March Madness would cement that notion even further.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho