Ryan Nembhard is more than just the straw that stirs Gonzaga’s drink

After Ryan Nembhard entered the transfer portal following his sophomore season at Creighton, many thought it a foregone conclusion that he would commit to Arizona over Gonzaga. After all, Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd was the one who had recruited his older brother Andrew out of high school. Arizona was also in desperate need of a true point guard like Nembhard, while Gonzaga already had one in junior Nolan Hickman. Even Gonzaga fans begrudgingly admitted that Arizona seemed like a good fit for the younger Nembhard. For a time, the commitment of Ryan Nembhard was little more than a thrilling what-if? scenario.

So when Ryan Nembhard announced he would be following in his older brother’s footsteps and committing to Gonzaga, fans were surprised, elated, and a little bewildered. What would this mean for Nolan Hickman? What about Luka Krajnovic? Would adding another point guard disrupt the hard-earned chemistry last year’s team had developed?

One thing all fans agreed on, however, was that Ryan Nembhard was good—like, really, really good. During his sophomore season at Creighton, Nembhard started all 37 games, averaging 34 minutes per night. He also averaged 12 points and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 44.5% from the field. By season’s end, he boasted a 2.29 assist-to-turnover ratio, fourth-best in the Big East. More recently, though, Nembhard had dropped 30 points against Baylor to advance his Creighton Bluejays to the Sweet 16. There is no bigger test for a point guard than facing the tough, physical play of Baylor’s backcourt, and there’s no quicker way to a Zag fan’s heart than single-handedly gashing them. And Ryan Nembhard was able to do it as a sophomore.

Nembhard liked to play fast, he protected the ball well, he scored off the dribble, hit from long range, and showcased elite court vision and dizzying passing skills during his two years at Creighton. In short, he looked like a true point guard in the mold of Kevin Pangos, Nigel Williams-Goss, and perhaps most notably, his own older brother Andrew.

It’s hard to talk about Ryan without mentioning the elder Nembhard. Few Gonzaga point guards in the program’s history have run Mark Few’s offense as efficiently and smoothly as Andrew Nembhard. With Andrew, the Gonzaga offense seemed to run on autopilot, the ball just always somehow getting to the exact right place at the exact right time. He was the type of player who would hit big shots and then jaw at opposing coaches while backpedaling in transition. He brought an edge, a meanness, and a swagger that had been missing from the Gonzaga backcourt. He quickly became a fan favorite and in the year following his departure, his load-bearing leadership was sorely missed.

Fortunately for fans, Ryan not only lived up to the high expectations set by his brother—he exceeded them. In a side-by-side comparison, Ryan performed better in his first year at Gonzaga than Andrew did in his last. Ryan averaged more points, assists, and rebounds per game than Andrew did during Gonzaga’s 2021-2022 season and also boasted a significantly better assist-to-turnover ratio (4.6 to Andrew’s 2.97).

There were hiccups, certainly. In the early part of the season Ryan struggled with ball security and pushing the tempo at the wrong moments, he had some poor shooting performances and occasionally was a little too aggressive in trying to get buckets. At times he looked like Josh Perkins at his best, and at others he looked like Josh Perkins the rest of the time. But once the Zags hit their stride, Ryan was on fire. Rather, when Ryan hit his stride, the Zags caught fire.

In Gonzaga’s final 10 games, he averaged 13.4 points and 9 assists in 37.3 minutes of action. He also improved his outside shooting from 19.2% to 40% in that same span. Not coincidentally, the Zags looked better and better as Ryan got more and more comfortable running the show. After an up-and-down start, by March Ryan had firmly cemented himself as the beating heart of Gonzaga’s offense.

Everything is in place this year to see just how high Ryan Nembhard’s ceiling really is. After all, it’s almost unheard of for a GU point guard to regress or even plateau between their first and second years with the team. Andrew Nembhard, for example, had a better assist-to-turnover ratio in his second season as a Zag and averaged more points, rebounds, and assists per game, as well. He also became a more reliable perimeter defender, a more skilled passer in the high screen-and-roll, and, most importantly, established himself as the team’s undisputed veteran leader. Andrew was very good in his first year as a Zag, but he was one of the best point guards the Zags have ever had in his second.

Given Gonzaga’s legendary player development regimen and Ryan’s excess of potential, it’s exhilarating to imagine what a similar improvement could look like for the younger Nembhard. If we—perhaps recklessly—imagine an Andrew-like improvement for Ryan, we could be looking at a stat line of 15+ points and 8+ assists per game while shooting 38% shooting from beyond the arc. It could involve a ridiculous assist-to-turnover ratio of roughly 5-to-1. These numbers would represent one of, if not the best single-season performances by a point guard in program history.

Obviously, no one actually expects Ryan Nembhard to deliver the best season a GU point guard has ever had this year—that would be an absurd expectation to place on a any player. However, all the pieces are in place for him to surpass last season’s incredible performance, and he wouldn’t need to do that much better to have the best. With three other starters returning for the Zags and several key additions from the transfer portal, Ryan will have more weapons at his disposal and an even more versatile offensive arsenal to work with. The increased depth in the back-court will also mean Ryan can take an occasional breather and not have to play 35+ minutes per game.

Presumably, Ryan has also spent this off-season refining his jump shot, sharpening his defensive footwork, and further developing his deadly chemistry with Graham Ike, Ben Gregg, and Nolan Hickman. He’s also mentioned that a major focus of his game this season will be drawing fouls and scoring from the free throw line, adding an entirely new dimension to his game. But even if Ryan hadn’t made any significant improvements at all, the Zags would still be playing with one of the most skilled and reliable point guards in the nation.

Commentators like to refer to Ryan’s role in Gonzaga’s offense as “the straw that stirs the drink,” a diplomatic—and, frankly, stupid—way of saying he’s more of a floor general than a scorer, more of a facilitator than a bucket-getter. Fair enough, I suppose. But what this analogy fails to consider is the fact that you can still stir and ingest a drink without a straw. Gonzaga’s offense, however, is simply not the same without Ryan Nembhard.