Drew Pember | |
Position: | Power forward |
Height Ft: | 6 |
Height In: | 11 |
Weight Lbs: | 215 |
League: | NBA Summer League |
Team: | Charlotte Hornets |
Birth Date: | 14 June 2000 |
Birth Place: | Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
High School: | Bearden (Knoxville, Tennessee) |
College: |
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Draft Year: | 2024 |
Career Start: | 2024 |
Highlights: |
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Donald Andrew Pember (born June 14, 2000) is an American professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the UNC Asheville Bulldogs and the Tennessee Volunteers.
Pember grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and attended Bearden High School.[1] As a junior, he averaged 10 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, and 2.7 assists per game and was named All-District 4-AAA.[2] Pember was rated a three-star recruit and committed to playing college basketball for Tennessee over offers from Davidson, Mercer, and Florida Atlantic.[3]
Pember played in 22 games off the bench for the Tennessee Volunteers and averaged 1.3 points and one rebound per game. He played in 10 games and averaged 2.8 minutes played per game as a sophomore.[4] Pember entered the NCAA transfer portal at the end of the season.[5]
Pember ultimately transferred to UNC Asheville.[6] He was named the Big South Conference Defensive Player of the Year and first team All-Big South after averaging 15.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and three blocked shots per game in his first season with the Bulldogs.[7] Pember scored a school-record with 48 points scored in an 88–80 overtime win over Presbyterian.[8] As a senior, he averaged 21 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game. Pember was named Big South Player of the Year and repeated as Defensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Big South at the end of the season.[9] He was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2023 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament after scoring 29 points in the final against Campbell.[10] Pember considered entering the 2023 NBA draft, but ultimately decided to utilize the extra year of eligibility granted to college athletes who played in the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic and return to UNC Asheville.[11]
After going undrafted in the 2024 NBA draft, Pember was invited to join the Charlotte Hornets for NBA Summer League.[12]
|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2019–20| style="text-align:left;"| Tennessee| 22 || 0 || 5.5 || .333 || .200 || .714 || 1.0 || .2 || .0 || .1 || 1.3|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21| style="text-align:left;"| Tennessee| 10 || 0 || 2.8 || .111 || .000 || – || .3 || .4 || .2 || .1 || .2|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22| style="text-align:left;"| UNC Asheville| 31 || 30 || 26.9 || .495 || .356 || .863 || 6.6 || 1.4 || .8 || 3.0 || 15.7|-| style="text-align:left;"| 2022–23| style="text-align:left;"| UNC Asheville| 36 || 36 || 33.4 || .464 || .380 || .837 || 9.2 || 2.3 || .9 || 2.4 || 21.0|- class="sortbottom"| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career| 99 || 66 || 22.1 || .468 || .356 || .842 || 5.7 || 1.4 || .6 || 1.8 || 12.9
Pember's parents were both college athletes at Carson-Newman University, with his father playing basketball and his mother playing volleyball.[13]