Gonzaga's Ryan Nembhard enters NCAA Tournament on a historic passing rate

The nation's leader in assists will likely continue to rewrite the history books during Gonzaga's impending postseason run

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Ryan Nembhard (0) dribbles the basketball against San Francisco Dons guard Ryan Beasley (0) during the first half in the semifinal of the West Coast Conference tournament at Orleans Arena | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

At this point it feels like every assist credited to Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard is breaking some kind of college basketball record.

Nembhard leads the country with 325 assists, which is the most in a single season in Gonzaga program history as well as West Coast Conference history, and has the most career assists among active players with 863 across 132 games played with the Bulldogs and Creighton Bluejays. He's recorded 10 or more assists in 18 games this season, including 12 double-doubles, and is No. 2 in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.28). Nembhard's 9.8 assists per game ranks No. 1 in the country and No. 16 all-time in NCAA Division-I history.

Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Nembhard has already dished out the 10th-most assists by a player in a single season in NCAA Division-I history. Of course it'll all depend on how deep Gonzaga goes in the postseason, but at his current rate, Nembhard would break his way through to the top five if the Bulldogs make it to the Sweet 16 round.

Here's a closer look at the history that's at stake for Nembhard as he wraps up his four-year college career.

Nembhard's next assist will…

- Tie former Syracuse guard Sherman Douglas for the ninth-most assists in a single season
- Break a tie with former Colorado State guard Isaiah Stevens for 25th on the NCAA Division-I career assist leaderboard

With five more assists, Nembhard would…

- Surpass former St. John’s guard Mark Jackson for the seventh-most assists in a single season
- Tie him with Steven Gray for the sixth-most assists by a Gonzaga player in the NCAA Tournament
- Tie former Portland guard Darwin Cook (573) for No. 15 on the WCC career assist leaderboard

With 10 more assists, Nembhard would…

- Move past Ja Morant (331) and Avery Johnson (333) for the fifth-most assists by a player in a single season
- Be one assist shy of tying Matt Santangelo for fifth-most by a Gonzaga player in the NCAA Tournament
- Tie him with former Santa Clara guard Evan Roquemore for No. 14 on the WCC career assist leaderboard

If Nembhard duplicates what he did in the NCAA Tournament last season (28 assists in three games), he would…

- Move past Kendall Marshall (351) for the fourth-most assists in a single season
- Be one assist shy of tying Josh Perkins for the most assists by a Gonzaga player in the NCAA Tournament (Perkins had 57 assists in 16 career NCAA Tournament games)
- Move ahead of Jeremy Pargo (589) for the fourth-most assists in a Gonzaga career
- Surpass former Michigan State guard Cassius Winston (890) for 19th on the career assist leaderboard
- Finish the season as one of 16 players in NCAA history to average 9.8 assists or more in a single season
- Move to No. 12 on the WCC career assist leaderboard, passing former Loyola Marymount guard Keith Smith (594)

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