Ryan Nembhard visits Gonzaga

Nembhard averaged 14.0 points on 47.5% shooting during the NCAA Tournament

The competition to land Creighton transfer Ryan Nembhard is heating up between Gonzaga men's basketball and the Arizona Wildcats. 

The younger brother of former Bulldogs’ guard Andrew Nembhard was on campus Friday and plans to visit Tucson, Arizona, from Saturday to Monday. 

Ryan Nembhard entered the transfer portal after his sophomore season and has two years of eligibility remaining. 

A 6-foot, 170-pound guard, Ryan Nembhard has a smaller frame than his brother, but both players are exceptional offensive initiators. If Ryan Nembhard chooses Gonzaga, he would provide the program with a high-level playmaker it hasn’t had since Andrew left for the NBA roughly a year ago. 

Ryan Nembhard averaged 12.1 points and 4.8 assists in 37 starts while leading the Bluejays to the Elite Eight this past season. His career-high came in a second-round win over Baylor when he scored 30 points and shot 4-for-6 from 3-point range.

One might expect Ryan Nembhard to follow in his brother’s footsteps at Gonzaga, but analysts believe Arizona is the top contender. 

Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd was an assistant for the Zags when he convinced Andrew Nembhard to come to Spokane in 2020. Three years later, Lloyd is making a similar recruiting pitch to Ryan Nembhard, who’s projected to transfer to Arizona by five experts at 247Sports.