There are currently just seven players in college hoops right now who have 30 or greater assists and fewer than 10 turnovers.
Of those seven, just two have at least 40 assists, junior Louisiana Tech Guard Sean Newman Jr. and Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard. Newman Jr. has 45 assists and 6 turnovers and Nembhard has 40 assists and five turnovers. Do the math, and Nembhard is just narrowly edging out Newman Jr. with the assist-to-turnover ratio at 8:1 to 7.5:1, respectively.
Now, of course, assist-to-turnover ratio hardly makes a player the best point guard. Someone could easily make the argument that BYU’s freshman phenom Egor Demin, who is averaging 17 points and 7.5 assists per game all while holding an eFG% of 76.8 is making more of an impact than Nembhard.
And I would argue back that points don’t necessarily mean everything in the grand scheme of things. Although Demin is ridiculously efficient with the ball, his ORtg of 147.1 is less than Nembhard’s 150.5–and Nembhard is posting that while on the court roughly three more minutes per game, and has done so against tougher competition. For comparison:
| Demin Opponent | KenPom Rank | Nembhard Opponent | KenPom Rank |
| Central Arkansas | 335 | Baylor | 13 |
| UC Riverside | 140 | Arizona State | 55 |
| Queens | 198 | UMass Lowell | 128 |
| Idaho | 189 | San Diego State | 60 |
Nembhard has so far this season posted assist tallies of 11, 11, 8, and 10. He had nine or greater assists in 11 total last season games last season. He is already one-third of the way to besting that total this year.
There really isn’t a single thing to quibble with on his statistical profile. Granted, four games is a small sample size, but that is also why the headline says “currently.” He is shooting a career-high 41.7 percent from three. He is shooting 85.7 percent from the free-throw line, a 10 percent increase from last season. That increase is extra important because Nembhard is drawing 4.7 fouls per 40 minutes so far this season, and increase of 1.6 from last year.
As the floor general for the nation’s most lethal offense, if Nembhard’s current play extrapolates to the rest of the season, it is hard to imagine what team is going to be able to stop the Zags. Because through four games, Nembhard is showcasing the patience, intelligence, and overall basketball acumen everyone would want to see in a senior point guard.
Right now, for my money, no point guard is doing it better.