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Five-star point guard Andrew Nembhard, one of Gonzaga’s top recruiting targets in the 2018 class, announced his commitment to the University of Florida last night via his Twitter page. The 6’4” guard is considered to be one of the finest passers in his class after re-classifying from the 2019 class. He represents another notable miss for the Zags in a 2018 class that has yet to lock in a commitment.
Nembhard was scheduled to visit Spokane over the weekend for Kraziness in the Kennel, but committed to Florida after moving up his visit to Gainesville. He was originally scheduled to make a trip to Florida after a Gonzaga visit. Ohio State and USC were also listed by Nembhard in his final group of schools, but Gonzaga was thought to be a legitimate contender for the Ontario native.
While Gonzaga already has a strong 2019 class in place following the commitments of point guard Brock Ravet and wing Anton Watson, the 2018 group has proven to be elusive after misses on Taeshon Cherry (USC), Brandon Williams (Arizona), and David Singleton III (UCLA). The recent FBI investigation could still impact some of those commitments, but for now, Gonzaga has four scholarships still available in 2018-19 and no recruits to claim them.
Losing out on Nembhard is definitely disappointing, but all is not lost. The Zags still have talent in the pipeline with Joel Ayayi and Jesse Wade on campus, and Ravet in the fold two years down the road. Additionally, the Zags are still in the mix for several Top 100 players in the 2018 group including forward Kamaka Hepa (already took his official visit in September), point guard Will Richardson (scheduled to visit Oct 13-15; Georgia and Oregon are his other two finalists), and forward/center Jordan Brown (down to 7 schools).
It’s important to remember that Gonzaga has always taken a selective approach to recruiting, making sure to go after players who will fit the system on the court and the locker room and campus community off of it. The 2018 recruiting campaign has been frustrating, to be sure, but there’s still plenty of time to make it a success.