Chet Holmgren, Andrew Nembhard in running for end of the season awards

Holmgren was among ten semifinalists for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year while Nembhard made short list for Bob Cousy award

Nembhard is eighth in the nation in assist to turnover ratio this season while Holmgren is fourth in blocks and blocks per game. 

On Tuesday, it was announced that Gonzaga men’s basketball forward Holmgren was one of ten 2022 Naismith Men’s Defensive Player of the Year semifinalists. A day earlier, guard Andrew Nembhard cracked into the list of the five finalists in consideration for the 2021-22 Bob Cousy Point Guard of the Year Award.

As voted on by the Atlanta Tipoff Committee, Holmgren is the only freshman among the ten semifinalists to be in consideration for defensive player of the year. He is also one of three players to be selected from a non power five school along with Richmond guard Jacob Gilyard and Western Kentucky center Jamarion Sharp. 

Gilyard leads the nation in steals with 88 so far while Sharp has the second most blocks this season with 130. Another defensive player of the year semifinalist in Auburn big man Walker Kessler leads the nation with 135 blocks.

Holmgren is currently fourth in blocks nationally with 97, which is fourth in the West Coast Conference all-time for blocks in a single season. He still trails GU’s single season record for most blocks of 117 set by current Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke in the 2018-19 season.

However, his 97 blocks at current are more than the 85 shots he’s missed this season. He’s also fourth in blocks per game this season with an average of 3.6 and has 210 defensive rebounds to go along with 17 steals.

Other semifinalists include Duke center Mark Williams, Christian Koloko from Arizona and the nation’s top rebounder in Oscar Tshiewbe from Kentucky. Updates on when finalists for the 2022 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and the award winner himself will be selected are going to be determined at a later date.

Meanwhile, Nembhard made it as a finalist for the Bob Cousy award alongside Baylor’s James Akinjo, UCLA’s Tyger Campbell, Villanova’s Connor Gillsepie and Kentucky’s Sahvir Wheeler.

“The five point guards who have been selected as finalists for this prestigious award have proven themselves as the most premier floor generals in the country,” said John L. Doleva, president and CEO of the Basketball Hall of Fame, in a statement. “They have continually demonstrated the playmaking and leadership skills that Bob Cousy was famous for.”

Nembhard has been averaging 11.1 points off 44.8% shooting so far this season while also putting up 1.67 steals and 5.5 assists a contest. That assists per game number ranks 20th nationally and the Florida transfer has been doing it with a 3.04 assists to turnover ratio which places him eighth on that list in college basketball.

The only Bob Cousy finalist to be outshining Nembhard in assists per game this season is Wheeler who’s averaging seven assists.

For Nembhard, his process to reach the top five has been extensive. He was initially put on a list of 20 candidates in November, and then selected as one of the 10 point guards to make it onto the semifinalist list which was announced in late January.

Now that his name has been selected as one of the five in consideration for the Bob Cousy award, the award winner will soon be selected based on a combination of fan votes and suggestions from members of the Basketball Hall of Fame selection committee. Fan voting for the Bob Cousy award will open up on Friday on hoophallawards.com.