Courtesy of SJUHawks.com
DeAndre’ Bembry was selected by the Atlanta Hawks as the 21st overall selection in the 2016 NBA Draft, becoming the first Saint Joseph’s player to be chosen in the first round since Jameer Nelson and Delonte West in 2004. He is the sixth first-round selection in SJU history.
Bembry becomes the 33rd player in Saint Joseph’s history to be chosen in the NBA Draft and the first since 2009 when Ahmad Nivins was a second-round pick of the Dallas Mavericks.
Nelson was taken with the 20th pick by the Denver Nuggets in 2004, and was traded to the Orlando Magic that night, while West was chosen 24th by the Boston Celtics.
“I am delighted for DeAndre’ and his mother Essence. This has been an extraordinary night! What a great moment for the program and the Saint Joseph’s community,” said SJU head coach Phil Martelli.
Bembry was in the Hawks’ starting lineup from the first game of his career and during his three years, helped SJU win two Atlantic 10 Championships and make two NCAA appearances, with the Hawks’ reaching the round of 32 in 2016. During these seasons, Saint Joseph’s compiled a 65-36 record, which included a 28-8 mark in 2015-16 for the second-most wins in school history.
Bembry was the 2016 Player of the Year in both the Atlantic 10 and the Philadelphia Big 5, as he averaged 17.4 points, 7.8 rebounds and a team-high 4.5 assists per game. He scored double figures in 35 games, with nine double-doubles. He was also chosen to the USBWA All-District 2 Team, the NABC All-District 4 First Team, and received all-league first team honors from the Atlantic 10 and Big 5 for the second consecutive year.
He averaged 15.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in three seasons the Hawks. Bembry finished his career as the 15th leading scorer in school history with 1,590 points, while also ranking 25th among SJU’s leaders in rebounding with 672. In the 101 games of his career, he had 88 double-figure games, 26 games of 20-plus points and 15 double-doubles in 101 contests.
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