University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Men’s basketball announces signing of Drew Pember
04.08.2021 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE N.C. – The UNC Asheville men's basketball program announced the signing of transfer Drew Pember on Thursday. Pember joins Asheville after playing two years for Rick Barnes at the University of Tennessee.
"We are very excited to add Drew to our family here at UNC Asheville," Asheville head coach Mike Morrell said. "Drew comes from a great program at Tennessee and our staff is really looking forward to helping him grow as a player and person. He has a long relationship with Trent (Stephney) and his addition to our program will make our team even more versatile. Bulldog fans will really enjoy watching Drew in Kimmel Arena!"
A highly-touted recruit from Knoxville, Tennessee, Pember graduated from Bearden High School where he played for Jeremy Parrott and alongside current Bulldog guard Trent Stephney. In addition to joining Stephney, Pember will give Asheville four Knoxville-area players (Tajion Jones, BJ Marable). Pember was the No. 7 prospect overall in the state of Tennessee, helping lead his high school to the Tennessee Class AAA Championship where they defeated Memphis East to claim the title in his senior season, earning All-Tournament status (13.0 pts, 8.0 rebs, 3.7 blocks per game) in the process. Pember's efforts helped Bearden to a 32-5 record and a top-50 national ranking, being named All-District, All-District Tournament and All-Region Tournament Team.
Pember, whose mother (Allison) played volleyball and father (Donny) played basketball at Carson-Newman University, played his AAU ball with BMaze Elite program. In his freshman season, Pember appeared in 22 games averaging 1.3 points and 1.0 rebounds per game before being placed in concussion protocol at the end of the season.
In 2020-21 Pember appeared in 10 games, averaging 2.8 minutes per game. Pember snagged seven rebounds and scored a bucket against South Carolina and handed out a career-high three assists in victory over Tennessee Tech. A business management major, Pember was named to the 2020 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.
