Creighton transfer Ryan Nembhard announces commitment to Gonzaga

Former Creighton point guard Ryan Nembhard has committed to Gonzaga after entering the Transfer Portal a few weeks back, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. Of course, he follows in his older brother’s (Andrew Nembhard) footsteps by signing on to play point guard for the Zags. It’s been a heck of a Friday morning for Mark Few, who nabbed commitments from Nembhard and Wyoming big man Graham Ike, two of the best overall players in the portal, all before 7:15 a.m. out west.

Nembhard may not have the most voluminous stats and hasn’t really broken out as a star yet, but be not mistaken: this is one of the best players in the entire portal cycle. Nembhard is the most valuable commodity in college hoops: a true point guard. At 12.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in 2022-23, he was the engine of a Blue Jay team that came within inches of the Final Four as just a sophomore in an NCAA Tournament laden with seniors and super-seniors.

Expect a massive leap next season in Spokane — even though Nembhard is already spectacular. The Zags may not have the established returning stars they’re used to, but this is shaping up to be a vintage Few team that features excellent transfers as its best players.

The On3 Transfer Portal Rankings peg him as the No. 8 point guard in this transfer cycle. Frankly, that’s underrating his talents. As far as lead guards, there’s not a single guy in front of him you’d rather have running your team. Sure, some players who put up bigger numbers, but none who you’d trust with the ball in their hands more than Nembhard, and he has plenty of room to grow.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire.

Transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.