One of the most consistent players for the Indiana Pacers this season has been third-year wing Andrew Nembhard, who has started in all 54 games he has played in this season, averaging 29.0 minutes per game, and career-highs in points (10.3), rebounds (3.1), assists, (5.1) and steals (1.2) per game.
Nembhard was drafted by the Pacers with the first pick in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft out of Gonzaga. Nembhard spent the first two seasons of his college career with Florida before transferring to Gonzaga for his upperclassmen years.
Gonzaga deployed another guard with an awfully similar story to Nembhard's the past two seasons, in fact one that shares the Nembhard name: Andrew's brother Ryan.
The younger Nembhard spent the first two years of his college career at Creighton before transferring to Gonzaga, where he has had a remarkable college career.
Potentially the most esteemed Gonzaga Bulldog alumnus is John Stockton, who has the NBA record for assists. Yet, the Gonzaga single-season record for assists belongs to Ryan Nembhard, who set the record last season with 243, and decided to one-up himself, breaking his own record by 101, finishing his senior season with 344 assists.
Nembhard led all of Division I basketball with his 9.8 assists per game. He paired his playmaking prowess with 10.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game - a mark that led the West Coast Conference.
Gonzaga made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to the No. 1 seed Houston in an 81-76 battle where Nembhard posted 10 points and 11 assists.
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Nembhard is largely seen as a late-second-round selection or an undrafted free agent selection. Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman mocked him at No. 57 in a January mock draft.
"Ryan Nembhard lacks his brother's height, but the nation's assist leader clearly has some special passing IQ worth looking at later in the second round. Improved off-the-dribble shooting and three-point range could give him a chance at a backup role." Wasserman wrote.
Nermbhard will likely receive a shot at cracking an NBA roster, and at the very least seems to be a lock for the G-League.
Nembhard is just the ninth player in Division I history to average at least 10 points, 9.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. If he were to never sniff an NBA court, he'd be just the third man on the list to not have the pleasure of making it to basketball's highest level; joining Bradley guard and Hersey Hawkins-force-feeder Anthony Manuel, and Charleston Southern's Tony Fairley.
With so much movement that occurs at the end of the second round, even if the Pacers don't end up with a selection near Nembhard's range on Draft night, they very well could acquire one day-of, or Nembhard could be an undrafted free agent candidate.
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This story was originally published March 24, 2025 at 6:37 AM.