Adding Florida Transfer Andrew Nembhard Once Again Shows Gonzaga’s Appeal, National Relevance

In October 2017, when Andrew Nembhard was a senior in high school at Montverde Academy in Florida, he was scheduled to visit Gonzaga University. Nembhard, a 6-foot-5 guard, was considered among the nation’s top men’s basketball recruits. But a few days before he was supposed to head to Gonzaga, Nembhard committed to the University of Florida, which is only about 95 miles from Montverde.

Now, nearly three years after spurning Gonzaga, Nembhard has transferred to the school. Nembhard, who started all 67 games during his two seasons at Florida, had declared for the NBA draft in April but pulled out last month. He then officially entered the NCAA’s transfer portal on June 1. That morning, coaches from Gonzaga, Duke, Oregon, UCLA, USC, Memphis and Georgetown reached out to Nembhard, according to ESPN.

On Tuesday, Nembhard announced his decision on Twitter, posting a photo of himself in a Gonzaga uniform next to a “New Beginnings” slogan. He will have to sit out this coming season.

Nembhard’s choice shows once again that Gonzaga is an anomaly when it comes to major college sports. For men’s basketball, the so-called “Power 5” conferences of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC as well as the Big East dominate. But since the late 1990s, Gonzaga has emerged as a mainstay in the sport’s upper echelon even though it is in a small market in Spokane, Wash., and plays in the overlooked West Coast Conference.

The Bulldogs have made the past 22 NCAA tournaments, including 21 under coach Mark Few. Since arriving at Gonzaga, Few has won at least 23 games each season, captured 19 regular season WCC titles and compiled a 599-124 record (82.8%).

Few was criticized in some circles for losing early in the NCAA tournament several times, but the Bulldogs broke through in 2017 and made the national title game, where they lost, 71-65, to North Carolina.

This past season, the Bulldogs went 31-2 and again looked like a championship contender before the NCAA tournament was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. They finished second in the Associated Press’ poll and second in analyst Ken Pomeroy’s ratings. Gonzaga is the only program to finish among the KenPom top 10 in each of the past four seasons.

The Bulldogs are expected to have another loaded team this season even with Nembhard sitting out. They are ranked first in ESPN’s and CBS Sports’ preseason polls, although that could change if guard Joel Ayayi (10.6 points, 6.3 rebounds per game last season), forward Corey Kispert (13.9 points per game) and forward Filip Petrusev (17.5 points, 7.9 rebounds per game) remain in the NBA draft. Those three players aren’t projected as first round picks.

If Ayayi, Kispert and Petrusev are all back, Gonzaga could arguably have its best team in program history. It is also adding freshman Jalen Suggs, a 6-foot-3 point guard from Minneapolis, who is the 10th ranked player in the high school class of 2020, according to 247Sports.

Suggs should benefit from matching up in practice against Nembhard, who averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game during his two seasons at Florida. Last season, he was first in the SEC with a 2.2 to 1 assist to turnover ratio and second in the conference with 5.6 assists per game.

ESPN projects Suggs as the 15th pick in the 2021 draft, so he might only last one season in college. If that’s the case, Gonzaga will just turn to Nembhard as its lead guard and, as usual, remain a top-tier team.