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Gonzaga Star Listed on The Athletic's 2025 NBA Draft Top 100 Big Board

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Andy Patton | Last updated Mar 1, 2025 2:07 PM ET

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs have had at least one player selected in each of the past four NBA drafts, with eight total players selected since 2019.

However, that streak is very much in jeopardy in 2025.

The only player who was on the NBA draft radar coming into the season was forward Michael Ajayi, who considered staying in the draft process after committing to Gonzaga in the transfer portal. Ajayi opted to return to school, but his draft stock has fallen thanks to poor outside shooting and a slow start to the year.

A recent big board ranking of the top 100 NBA draft prospects by Sam Vecenie of The Athletic did not include Ajayi, although one Gonzaga player did show up near the very end of the rankings.

Ryan Nembhard was listed at No. 95 on Vecenie's big board, the lone Zag and one of just two WCC players on the list alongside Washington State forward Cedric Coward, who came in at No. 44 despite only playing six games this season before succumbing to injury.

Nembhard is averaging 11 points, 9.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game while shooting 40% from three and 77.1% from the free throw line. He has 295 assists on the season, and is well on pace to hit the 300 assist mark on Saturday night against the Dons of San Francisco. If he does, he'd become just the sixth player since 1993 to total 300 assists in a single season.

It's a little surprising to not see more WCC representation, with Oregon State forward Michael Rataj and Santa Clara guard Adama-Alpha Bal notable omissions, while there is an argument for Graham Ike and Ajayi as well.

Former Gonzaga guard Hunter Sallis, now with Wake Forest, came in at No. 57, while Alex Toohey, one-time Gonzaga commit who opted to say in Australia, came in at No. 31.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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