Creighton’s coaching staff didn’t first reach out to Ryan Nembhard until after the world was under quarantine in trying to slow the spread of COVID-19, but after taking a virtual tour of the facilities and campus it just hit him one day at home that it was the right fit for the next phase of his basketball life.
“I was in my room really just playing a game and thinking, and it just came to me,” he said. “My whole family had the same mindset that we were ready to decide and we knew where we wanted to go.”
On Saturday night, he made his decision public and became the first player to commit to Creighton’s 2021 recruiting class. Nembhard, a 6-foot-1, 165-pound point guard out of Montverde Academy in Florida, held offers from Florida, Ohio State, Seton Hall, Stanford, and USC before the Bluejays got in the mix. He’s ranked 80th overall and listed as a four-star prospect on Rivals.com and 247sports, where he is ranked 89th and listed as the 12th best point guard in the country on their composite rankings.
His older brother, Andrew, was a two-year starter for the Gators before testing the NBA waters and ultimately deciding to transfer this offseason. Ryan says his brother’s experience helped him prioritize what to look for in a school.
“He has a lot of experience and he’s learned a lot throughout his two years in college,” Nembhard said. “Going through the process a second time, we just knew exactly what we were looking for and we picked the school that had everything that we wanted. His experiences have definitely helped me.”
Player development and style of play were the two areas that resonated most with Nembhard when considering Creighton. However, he’s not heading to Omaha with only his own personal achievement in mind.
“I haven’t really thought about it too much, but obviously the main goal is to win a national championship,” he said. “That’s what I’m going to Creighton to achieve, and I think it’s very doable.”
Even if Creighton has never won a national championship?
“Maybe this will be the first,” he replied.
Winning is something he’s become accustomed to at all levels. As a sophomore, he helped Montverde Academy earn a 20-3 record and a No. 16 national ranking on MaxPreps.com. Last year, the Eagles finished 25-0 and ascended to the top spot on that ranking. He put those winning ways on display for the world to see last June when he led Team Canada to a runner-up finish at the FIBA U16 Americas Championship in Belem, Brazil. In six games Nembhard averaged 14.3 points, 9.0 assists, 2.0 steals, and sported an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.6 while shooting 44.6% from the floor, 36.4% from 3-point range, and 84.2% at the free throw line.
After Canada rolled through group play with a 3-0 record, Nembhard elevated his game for the medal rounds. He finished with 20 points, seven assists, and three steals in a 95-78 quarterfinal win over Mexico. In the semifinals against the Dominican Republic, he recorded his first double-double of the tournament with 19 points and 12 assists to lead his team to a 97-81 win and a spot in the gold medal game against Team USA. A poor second quarter proved costly in a 94-77 loss to the Americans, but Nembhard still ended up with 21 points and nine assists in a losing effort. For the entire tournament he led all players in assists, while finishing fourth in efficiency, and seventh in both points and steals.
“That was the first time I had traveled to a different continent, so it was amazing and it was fun to be out there with my guys,” Nembhard said. “I learned a lot throughout that whole process, and I think it made me a much better basketball player.”
These days he says that shooting is the skill he’s been working on the most. Recruiting and talent evaluators seem to agree that the pass-first skills, vision, and defensive chops are already there. Nembhard credits his days as a defender in soccer for his quick feet and ability to stay with the ball. The facilitating skills, though, he says were passed down from his dad.
“My dad is a coach, so I think it just came naturally. Me and my brother just have good vision naturally, and we like to be playmakers on the court, get our teammates involved, and do whatever we can to win. It’s just natural.”
