Florida basketball: Andrew Nembhard may not be ready for NBA
For the second season in a row, this Florida basketball point guard wants a shot at the big time and has decided to declare for the NBA Draft.
For Florida basketball point guard Andrew Nembhard, if at first, you don’t succeed, try, try again.
On Sunday, the Gator incoming junior decided it’s time to take a risk and enter the NBA Draft. It was the final day that underclassmen can decide to enter the draft.
It’s the second straight season the Canadian national has elected to pursue big money in the NBA.
Last season, Nembhard did the same thing. The only problem was that no one called him. He was not invited to the NBA Combine and received little to no interest from NBA scouts.
How was Nembhard last season?
Now Nembhard is hoping for a change in fortune.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported that Nembhard signed with NCAA-certified agent Jaafar Choufani in order to retain his NCAA eligibility in the event he decides, like last year, to come back.
His decision comes as fellow Florida basketball players Scottie Lewis (guard) and Keyontae Johnson (forward) elected to return to the Gators next season.
In two seasons with the Gators, Nembhard has started all 67 games and recorded 367 assists. He led the Southeastern Conference in assist-to-turnover ratio last season with a 2.2.
Nembhard did bolster his scoring output in his second season by 3.2 points per game. Last season, he averaged 11.2 points per game — with two 25-point games against Alabama and Georgia.
Last year, he made his national team debut, representing Canada in the FIBA World Cup.
What are the prospects?
The issue here is that while Nembhard had a better season last season, it’s still not great numbers.
His points-per-game average still doesn’t rank in the top 100 of all college basketball point guards.
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Andrew Nembhard Point Guard
The one thing he has going for him is his assists per game, which averaged 5.5 — good enough for 32nd in all Division I college basketball.
Unfortunately, NBA teams look for much more than that in point guards.
That’s not to say he won’t get invited to the NBA combine this year, it’s just hard to say whether he has NBA talent at this point in his career.
At this point, I still don’t see it. I don’t think putting up good assist numbers is enough to put you in the NBA conversation.
That said, Nembhard is going to take his chances.
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But I suspect he will likely be back in a Florida basketball uniform next season unless he settles for a spot in the NBA Developmental League.