Will Ryan Nembhard and Nolan Hickman both start? Projecting Gonzaga's starting lineup next season
The Gonzaga men’s basketball team will look very different next season.
With four of five starters departing, and three players in the transfer portal, Mark Few has quickly revamped the Zags with commitments from Eastern Washington’s Steele Venters, Creighton’s Ryan Nembhard and Wyoming's Graham Ike.
The trio of new Zags will come in with the potential of starting for Few, who is also adding four-star forward Dusty Stromer and three-star forward Alex Toohey from the 2023 recruiting class. Korean forward Jun Seok Yeo, 21, is also set to dawn a Bulldogs jersey after initially joining the program midway through last season.
Few and his coaching staff will likely remain active in the portal throughout the offseason. With the three transfer portal additions, Gonzaga now has 14 players on the roster. That does not include Anton Watson, who could still opt to play a fifth season in Spokane.
With the additions of Nembhard, Ike and Venters, here’s a look at how the 2023-24 Bulldogs' starting five could pan out:
Point guard: Ryan Nembhard
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One of the Big East’s most impactful guards should provide much-needed playmaking and pace to Gonzaga’s offensive attack.
The 2021 Big East Freshman of the Year started in all 64 games over his two seasons at Creighton, averaging 11.8 points and 4.6 assists per game. In that span, the Bluejays won 47 games and made two Sweet 16 appearances, including a run to the Elite Eight last season that saw Nembhard average 14 points and 3.5 assists per game in four NCAA Tournament outings. He dropped a career-high 30 points against No. 3-seed Baylor in the second round, proving he belongs on the game’s biggest stages.
Nembhard won’t be held to the expectations to that of his older brother and former Zag, Andrew, who was a two-time All-WCC guard that helped the program reach the 2021 national title game. Still, Ryan’s decisive playmaking and ability to spread the floor provide a dynamic threat that hasn’t existed in Gonzaga’s backcourt since Andrew’s departure in 2022.
Last season, Nembhard averaged 4.8 assists per game and accounted for over a quarter of Creighton’s total baskets. For comparison, Drew Timme was the Zags’ most consistent playmaker with 3.2 assists per game, accounting for 19.2% of the team’s buckets. With his departure, along with Dominick Harris and Hunter Sallis in the portal, Nembhard’s skillset will be pivotal if Gonzaga is to have any resemblance to last year’s No. 1-ranked offense.
It's not a shock to see Few bring in a more experienced guard via the transfer portal. Nembhard, who was the No. 2-ranked transfer according to ESPN, adds his name to a list that includes his brother, Aaron Cook (2021), Admon Gilder, Ryan Woolridge (2020), Geno Crandall (2019) and Nigel Williams-Goss (2017) to name a few.
Shooting guard: Nolan Hickman
Photo by Erik Smith/Myk Crawford
In what will be his third season as a Zag, Hickman completes a starting backcourt that has plenty of experience playing at a high level against college basketball’s best.
With a combined 100 starts between the two, Hickman and Nembhard are slated to share ball-handling duties in Gonzaga’s up-tempo offense, a responsibility that Hickman took on himself for the majority of last season.
The 6-foot-2 guard had his ups and downs as a sophomore. In November, an efficient and promising PK85 tournament was followed by an 0-for-10 showing from the field against then-No. 6 Baylor. He was the hero in a tightly contested game against Santa Clara, dropping 20 points and the dagger 3-pointer in a five-point win, before going 1-for-5 against BYU just days later. In Gonzaga’s four NCAA Tournament games, he averaged 2 points on 15.8% shooting from the floor in 26 minutes per game.
Despite his struggles, Hickman was a solid playmaker that took better care of the basketball as the season went on. Over his last 14 games, he committed a total of nine turnovers while dishing out 36 assists in 27 minutes of action per outing. His 2.42 assist/turnover ratio ranked 43rd nationally, while Nembhard was 52nd in that category at 2.29.
If Hickman can bounce back from his tournament woes - and take the next step as a playmaker - him and Nembhard project to be the best backcourt in the WCC.
Small forward: Steele Venters
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Few has options at the wing position, but the reigning MVP of the Big Sky Conference has three years of experience as a sharpshooter at the collegiate level and is familiar with Gonzaga’s up-tempo offense.
The 6-foot-7 wing from Ellensburg, Washington averaged 15.3 points per game to lead EWU to the second round of the NIT. Venters knocked down the second-most triples in the Big Sky with 78, and his 55.8 effective field goal percentage was fifth-best in the league. He wasn’t afraid to extend his range either, as he knocked down 12 triples from beyond 25 feet.
Venters shouldn’t have a difficult time fitting into Gonzaga’s offensive scheme, which he said has similarities to David Riley’s offense at EWU. With his combination of size and shooting ability, Venters can fill the void left by Strawther on the wing.
“They need a shooter and that's what I do best,” Venters said. “I think I can kill it from any position. I've proven that a high efficiency from 3 and in the mid-range.”
Yeo and Stromer make strong cases as potential starters, but Gonzaga seems to be in a win-now mode with the addition of three upperclassmen fighting for meaningful minutes.
Power forward: Graham Ike
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Given the uncertainty surrounding Watson, there’s a chance Gonzaga’s newest frontcourt addition could slide into the starting five if the Spokane native finds greener grass elsewhere.
Ike, a 6-foot-9, 255-pound center, was the focal point of Wyoming’s post-centric offense in 2022. He earned First Team All-Mountain West honors while averaging 19.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game that year, placing second in the conference in both statistical categories. Posting the third-highest usage rate in the country, he led the Cowboys to the NCAA Tournament before bowing out to Indiana in the First Four round.
Since then, the program went 9-22 in his absence as he nursed a lower right leg injury that kept him out of the 2022-23 season. Still, the preseason MWC Player of the Year was the 21st-ranked player in the transfer portal according to ESPN.
There’s plenty of potential for Ike to thrive once again in Few’s system. The lefty is a crafty post-scorer, and with a 7-foot-5 wingspan, he can fend off double-teams and alter shots defensively.
Following his decision to redshirt in February, Ike will transfer to Gonzaga with three years of eligibility remaining.
Center: Ben Gregg
Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford
Entering his third full season at Gonzaga, Gregg is expected to take on a full-time starter role for the first time in his collegiate career, a move that would help space the floor alongside Ike or Watson in the frontcourt.
Ever since he showed flashes in the PK85 tournament, the 6-foot-10 center continued to provide much-needed sparks in his limited time off the bench. He had seven double-digit scoring outings while playing an average of 12 minutes per game, including 12 points off four triples in Gonzaga’s win over San Francisco in the first round of the WCC Tournament. On low volume, he shot 37.7% from deep — a mark that could hold greater value to Gonzaga in a larger role as the starting stretch center next season.
Defensively, the necessary strides Gregg needs to make as a rim protector would pair well alongside Ike, who didn’t profile as a shot-blocker in his first two collegiate seasons. Gregg, who finished 12th in the WCC with 24 blocks, has shown he can protect the rim to a degree, though another year of development awaits the final verdict.
