Canada's Ryan Nembhard collects NCAA Big East basketball top rookie honours

Canadian Ryan Nembhard has earned Big East men's basketball freshman of the year honours.

The 18-year-old from Aurora, Ont., led the Creighton Bluejays in assists (4.3), steals (1.3), and minutes (34.8), and was averaging 11.3 points a game before having season-ending surgery on his right wrist on Feb. 25.

Big East head coaches pick the award winners, which were announced Wednesday.

Nembhard was also a unanimous choice to the conference All-Freshman Team.

His older brother Andrew, a senior guard at top-ranked Gonzaga, earned MVP honours at the West Coast Conference Tournament on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

Andrew scored a team-high 19 points to lead the Zags to an 82-69 win over Saint Mary's in the tournament final.