Ryan Nembhard Wins Gonzaga’s First West Coast Conference Player of the Week Award

Only took 15 weeks of the college basketball season for a Zag to be honored.

After getting his 808th assist in his storied career (No. 48 in college basketball history), Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard was awarded the West Coast Conference Player of the Week Award. It only took 15 weeks for a Zag on the men’s side to win the award this season which is just hard to believe that’s the case.

He earned the award after collecting 24 total assists in the wins over San Francisco and Pepperdine in the Kennel this past week. As a team, Gonzaga dished out 33 total assists in the 107-55 beatdown over the Waves which set a single-game program record that dated back 45 years ago.

Nembhard has 140 assists through 14 conference games and passed Brigham Young guard Kyle Collinsworth’s 136 assists for the West Coast Conference’s single-season assist record through league matchups. He’s just 15 assists away from passing former Saint Mary’s guard Emmett Naar’s West Coast Conference record for the most in a entire season at 284.

Gonzaga forward Graham Ike has never won the award despite being considered for the Karl Malone Award which is given to the best power forward in the country. San Francisco guard Malik Thomas leads the way with four total West Coast Conference Player of the Week awards this season and is the top scorer in the conference with 19.4 points per game. He is the frontrunner to take home the Player of the Year trophy.

Can’t forget about the Lady Zags, who have constantly been rewarded for their efforts from the West Coast Conference weekly awards. Gonzaga forward Yvonne Ejim has won the Player of the Week Award five total times as she is well on her way to winning the West Coast Conference Player of the Year Award for the second season in a row.

As for the Freshmen of the Week Award in the conference, Gonzaga guard Allie Turner has taken the honor back to Spokane a whopping seven times this season. She is a lock to be given the West Coast Conference Freshmen of the Year Award.

Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho