Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Ryan Nembhard (0) cheers after Gonzaga forced a turnover against the Saint Mary's Gaels during the first half of the WCC Tournament Championship on Tuesday, Mar. 11, 2025, at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
Anton Watson had to wait a full day and then some before hearing his name called with the 54th overall pick of the 2024 NBA Draft.
Former college teammate Ryan Nembhard could be in a similar spot this week, with most draft analysts anticipating the Gonzaga point guard will learn his NBA destination late Thursday night, as opposed to some point on Wednesday, when the 2025 Draft gets underway at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Nembhard is statistically the most accomplished passer in this year’s draft and considered one the top pure point guards available to the 30 NBA teams that will begin making first-round selections on Wednesday (5 p.m. PT, ABC/ESPN) and continue with the second round on Thursday (5 p.m. PT, ESPN).
Washington State’s Cedric Coward, a former Division III star who played two seasons at Eastern Washington and passed up a chance to play at Duke next season, shouldn’t have to sweat it out this week as a potential lottery pick who earned a green room invite to the NBA Draft.
The nation’s leader in assists last season, Nembhard gives Gonzaga a strong chance to extend its streak of consecutive drafts with at least one player selected. Mark Few’s program has had at least one draft pick each of the last four years, with seven total during that span. Only Duke (10), Kentucky (9), Connecticut (8), Baylor (7) and Tennessee (5) have had a pick every year since 2021.
Gonzaga’s streak appeared to be in jeopardy during the early phases of the 2024-25 season, with only a select number of outlets giving Nembhard a second-round grade and others leaving him off mock drafts altogether. But the 22-year-old point guard has been one of the draft’s top risers in recent months, playing his way into the second-round conversation through impressive showings at the NBA G-League Camp and NBA Draft Combine.
It didn’t hurt that Nembhard’s pre-Draft process coincided with older brother Andrew’s run to the NBA Finals with the Indiana Pacers. Andrew Nembhard, who started in all 65 regular-season appearances and 23 playoff games, scored 15 points with a team-leading six assists and five rebounds during a 103-91 loss to former Gonzaga teammate Chet Holmgren and Oklahoma City in Sunday’s Game 7.
Ryan Nembhard set multiple school and West Coast Conference records while dishing out 344 assists in 2024-25 – the fifth-most by any player in a single season in NCAA Division I history.
Nembhard’s passing acumen and IQ could help offset his lack of size, perceived deficiencies on defense and streaky 3-point shooting. The guard’s shooting percentages fluctuated in four seasons at Creighton and Gonzaga, but Nembhard hit a career-high 40% of his 3’s last season with the Zags and shot 44% overall.
“He is really good in transition situations, nobody’s questioned whether he can play fast,” ESPN college basketball and NBA analyst Jay Bilas said on a media call last week. “Good off the dribble, he just lacks size. He’s not as big as Andrew and I think in the last several years smaller guards have done well. Everybody would rather would be bigger and I’m sure everyone would rather than Ryan be bigger.
“I think he’s going to be taken in the second round and I wouldn’t bet against a Nembhard and I would not bet against Ryan.”
Most national outlets foresee Nembhard going somewhere in the middle or toward the end of the second round, including Yahoo! Sports (No. 42, Kings), Bleacher Report (No. 48, Grizzlies), The Athletic (No. 51, Clippers), Sports Illustrated (No. 51, Clippers), USA Today (No. 54, Pacers) and ESPN (No. 58, Cavaliers).
GU’s three other draft-eligible players – guard Nolan Hickman, forward Ben Gregg and guard Khalif Battle – aren’t expected to hear their names called this week, but could sign undrafted free agent deals at the conclusion of Thursday’s event in Brooklyn, or earn an NBA Summer League invite in the coming weeks.
Coward, who only had two Division III offers coming out of Central High School in Fresno, Calif., has become one of the most fascinating stories in this year’s draft after spending three seasons with WSU’s David Riley, who previously coached at EWU.
The 6-foot-5 wing is also one of the draft’s quickest risers, shooting up mock drafts after an exceptional showing at the Combine. Coward, who only played in six games at WSU due to a shoulder injury, placed his name in the transfer portal while simultaneously entering the NBA Draft. Coward committed to Duke, but ultimately chose to keep his name in the draft after earning a first-round grade.
“I think some people would refer to him as a little bit of a mystery man,” Bilas said. “The measurables on him are really incredible. He’s not more than 6-6 I would think, but his wingspan is over 7-feet. He makes perimeter shots and he’s very good defensively and he can rebound. He’s a good offensive rebounder, he’s good in transition, his vertical’s really good and he did very well there with the Combine and that’s why he stayed in the draft.”
Latest mock drafts from The Athletic and ESPN have Coward going at No. 14 and 16, respectively. Coward, who’s still recovering from his injury, was recently cleared for full contact but not “full blown competition,” according to CBS Sports.
Coward would give the Cougars their third draftee in as many years after Jaylen Wells and Mouhamed Gueye were both selected at the same spot, No. 39 overall, in the 2023 and 2024 drafts.
“The problem is, he only played six games last year before getting injured so there’s not a lot to go on in 5-on-5 stuff,” Bilas said of Coward. “You’re going on sort of workouts and the little bit that you saw at the Combine. But going back to the bag of cliches, he’s got a lot of upside and potential.”
Former Gonzaga guard Hunter Sallis, coming off two productive seasons at Wake Forest, is another second-round candidate in this year’s Draft. The former five-star recruit averaged 18 ppg each of his last two years in the ACC, but watched his 3-point percentage dip from 40% as a junior to 27% as a senior. ESPN’s mock draft has Sallis going No. 56 overall to the Grizzlies while The Athletic didn’t include the ex-Zag guard in its latest projections.
“Good transition player, he’s a wing that can score,” Bilas said. “I think as he gets stronger, continues to get stronger, he’s going to get better. He can get to the rim, but his transition ability is really impressive and another guy I think in the second round is going to be a real value.”
Australian wing Alex Toohey, a former Gonzaga signee who passed on an opportunity to play college basketball to compete for the Sydney Kings as part the NBL’s Next Stars program, is considered a late first or early second-round pick in most mock drafts.