Closer look at Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard’s passing clinic this season

Ryan Nembhard’s 22 assists and just two turnovers in wins over then No. 8 Baylor and Arizona State in the season’s first two games were a strong indication Gonzaga’s point guard was primed for a memorable senior season.

After the fourth game (San Diego State, 10 assists), sixth (West Virginia, 12), seventh (Indiana, 13), eighth (Davidson, 14) and ninth (Kentucky, 10) there wasn’t any doubt.

“I think I’ve been in a pretty good rhythm all year,” said Nembhard, who transferred from Creighton after his sophomore season. “The game is really slowing down for me at this point. I’ve been (in college) for four years, I’ve got a great system that I’m in and guys around me that put the ball in the hoop.”

Nembhard has gone where no Gonzaga point guard has gone before with his assist numbers – by a wide margin. His 243 assists as a junior broke Josh Perkins’ school record of 234. Nembhard has blown that away this season with 325 and still counting as the Zags prepare for their 26th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

He leads the nation in total assists by 44 over Purdue’s Braden Smith. He’s tops in assists per game at 9.8 to Smith’s 8.8. Nembhard is second in assist-to-turnover ratio at 4.28, behind College of Charleston’s CJ Fulton’s 4.86.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few has stated several times this season that Nembhard hasn’t received enough national recognition. Senior guard Nolan Hickman was disappointed when Nembhard wasn’t among five finalists for the Cousy Award, presented annually to the nation’s top point guard.

“It’s outlandish,” Hickman said, “but you know that’s how it is sometimes, that’s how basketball goes. His mindset about everything is really impressive, just not caring about certain things, not caring about his individual stuff. Just goes to show what he is as a player and is as a dude, so all props to my guy.”

Nembhard’s take: “I don’t vote on that, so it is what it is, honestly. I’m trying to win games with my guys, that’s my ultimate goal. I didn’t come here to win no individual awards. I came here to win games and go far in the tournament, so that’s what I’m looking forward to doing.”

He’s more talkative when asked about his favorite assist. He had one against San Francisco in the regular-season finale that navigated through a spider web of arms and legs before reaching its intended target for a basket, but he had another in mind.

“I think the one versus LMU to open the game at home to Benny (Gregg), like the first play of the game,” said Nembhard, who averages 10.8 points. “I just threw it. I didn’t even think it was going to get through, but it got there.”

Nembhard, moving left after catching a pass near at the top of the circle, threw to a back-cutting Gregg with a no-look, one-hopper for a layup late in the shot clock.

Graham Ike went with a Nembhard dish against rival Saint Mary’s last season in Moraga, California.

“The behind the back, that was pretty crazy,” Ike said. “He’s had some crazy ones this year.”

Nembhard’s angled drive on Augustas Marciulionis drew a double-team from Mitchell Saxen, leaving Ike alone for a perfectly placed feed and easy 3-foot bank shot.

Hickman chose a medley of Nembhard lob passes to Khalif Battle for acrobatic dunks, including one against Pacific in February for his 244th assist, breaking his school record.

“I’d say all the ones that have been alley-oops to KB,” said Hickman, who connected with Battle for a dunk to punctuate GU’s 58-51 win over Saint Mary’s in Tuesday’s West Coast Conference Tournament championship. “Throwing it up so high.

“Anyways, he’s got a lot,” added Hickman, drawing a chuckle from Nembhard.

As well as a lot of records. Nembhard matched Blake Stepp’s single-game school record with 16 assists against San Francisco in the regular-season finale. Nembhard holds third place with a pair of 15-assist efforts and he has two more with 14, sharing fifth with older brother, Andrew, and Joel Ayayi.

Nembhard’s 568 career assists in two seasons rank fifth in school history at a program with a rich history of standout point guards, Nembhard is sandwiched between No. 4 Jeremy Pargo (589) and No. 6 John Stockton (554).

Every player on the top 10 other than Nembhard played at least four years at Gonzaga. Perkins, the school’s all-time leader with 153 games in four-plus years, is No. 1 with 712 assists.

Nembhard has assisted on an estimated 41% of teammate field goals while they were on the floor, according to sports-reference.com. He was at 29% last season. His highest in two years at Creighton was 25%.

The 6-foot Nembhard has 12 double-doubles this season, all with points and assists. Only 28 players have had more double-doubles and just two are listed as guards: Colorado State 6-6 senior Nique Clifford and Idaho State 6-4 senior Jake O’Neil. All 15 of Clifford’s double-doubles and all 13 of O’Neil’s are points/rebounds.

Nembhard has already joined prominent names in Division I history for single-season and career assists.

His 325 assists rank 10th, but an average game in Gonzaga’s NCAA Tournament opener would vault him into fifth past Syracuse’s Sherman Douglas, Iona’s Scott Machado, Mark Jackson of St. John’s, Murray State’s Ja Morant and Southern’s Avery Johnson.

UNLV’s Mark Wade is No. 1 with 406 assists in 1987, according to records dating to the 1973-74 season. Notables in the top 10 include Johnson at No. 2 with 399 in 1988 and No. 4 Kendall Marshall (North Carolina) with 351 in 2012.

Nembhard and the Zags chalked up a win in November over Arizona State and head coach Bobby Hurley, the former Duke star who is No. 1 with 1,076 career assists from 1990-93.

Nembhard is tied for 25th, 21 away from cracking the top 20.

Others inside the top 20: North Carolina State’s Chris Corchiani at No. 2 with 1,038; Maryland’s Steve Blake at No. 6 with 972; Douglas at No. 7 with 960; UNLV’s Greg Anthony at No. 10 with 950; Gary Payton at No. 13 with 938; San Francisco’s Orlando Smart tied for No. 15 with 902; and Michigan State’s Cassius Winston at No. 19 with 890.