Gonzaga men’s basketball guard Ryan Nembhard was named a finalist for the 2024-25 Lute Olson award, presented annually to the top player in Division-I college basketball by collegeinsider.com.
Nembhard leads the country with 325 assists, which ranks 10th-most by a player in men’s Division-I history, and owns both the Bulldogs program record and the West Coast Conference record for the most assists recorded in a single season. His 9.8 assists per game also tops the nation and ranks No. 16 all-time in men’s Division-I history. As a team, the Zags (25-8, 14-4 WCC) are No. 1 in the sport with 19.7 assists per game.
In addition to his superb playmaking, Nembhard helped guide Gonzaga to its 26th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament by chipping in 10.8 points and 3.1 rebounds while playing 35.0 minutes across 33 appearances this season. The Ontario, Canada, native also shot a career-best 39.4% from 3-point range and led the WCC with 55 steals. Nembhard was named to the All-WCC first team for the second straight season before leading the Bulldogs past San Francisco (eight points, eight assists) and Saint Mary’s (10 points, six assists) in the WCC tournament.
Nembhard was one of the players to be named a finalist for the Lute Olson award, headlined by Duke’s Cooper Flagg and Auburn’s Johni Broome. Saint Mary’s guard and twice reigning WCC Player of the Year, Augustas Marciulionis, was among the finalists as well, along with UConn’s Alex Karaban and West Virginia’s Javon Small.
The winner of the Lute Olson award will be announced in San Antonio, the location of the Final Four, and will be determined by a 10-member voting committee consisting of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.
2024-25 Lute Olson award finalists:
Johni Broome, Auburn
Walter Clayton Jr., Florida
LJ Cryer, Houston
Donovan Dent, New Mexico
Hunter Dickinson, Kansas
Eric Dixon, Villanova
Cooper Flagg, Duke
PJ Haggerty, Memphis
Chucky Hepburn, Louisville
Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois
Kam Jones, Marquette
Curtis Jones, Iowa State
Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton
Alex Karaban, UConn
Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue
Chaz Lanier, Tennessee
RJ Luis Jr., St. John’s
Augustas Marciulionis, Saint Mary’s
Ryan Nembhard, Gonzaga
Derik Queen, Maryland
Maxime Raynaud, Stanford
Kadary Richmond, St. John’s
Richie Saunders, BYU
Mark Sears, Alabama
Javon Small, West Virginia
Braden Smith, Purdue
John Tonje, Wisconsin
JT Toppin, Texas Tech
Danny Wolf, Michigan
Zakai Zeigler, Tennessee
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