University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Drew Pember & Tajion Jones Earn All-District Honors
03.14.2023 | Men's Basketball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – UNC Asheville men's basketball players Drew Pember and Tajion Jones earned spots on All-District Teams on Tuesday. Pember earned All-District honors from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and the NABC, while Jones landed a spot on the All-District Second Team from the NABC.
Pember has posted one of the best seasons ever by a Big South player in 2022-23. Pember is not only the first player in conference history to lead the league scoring, rebounding, and blocks in a single season but he is also the first player in Big South history to be named the Preseason Player of the Year, Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Tournament MVP in the same season. He was also named the Big South Player of the Week five times.
The Knoxville, Tennessee native had plenty of stats to back up the awards he received. He broke Asheville's single season scoring record (720 points) along with the free throws made (262) and attempted (274) records. His 262 makes from the line are the 10th-most in the history of Division I men's basketball and leads the nation in 2022-23. His 720 points scored are the fourth-most in the country and his blocked shot total of 78 is eighth in Division I.
Jones played in and started all 34 games for Asheville in 2022-23. He became Asheville's all-time scoring leader (1,976 points) and 3-pointers made (98). Jones also became the Big South's all-time leader in games played (148) and minutes played (4,935). He scored in double figures in 29 of the team's 34 games and recorded seven 20-plus point performances. Matched a career-high with 30 points on three different occasions and matched the school record with eight 3-pointers made in a game twice in 2022-23. Jones became the first Big South player to ever score 1,800 points, grab 600 rebounds, and make over 300 3-pointers in 2022-23. For his work all season, Jones was named to the All-Big South First Team at the conclusion of the regular season. Furthermore, he was named to the All-Big South Tournament team for his play in Asheville's Big South Tournament run.
USBWA All-District Team
Armando Bacot, North Carolina
Hunter Tyson, Clemson
Tyree Appleby, Wake Forest
Kyle Filipowski, Duke
Terquavion Smith, NC State
Darius McGhee, Liberty
Jahmir Young, Maryland
Drew Pember, UNC Asheville
Jarkel Joiner, NC State
Reece Beekman, Virginia
NABC All-District Teams
First Team
Devontae Blanton - Eastern Kentucky
Kenny Dye - Queens
Darius McGhee - Liberty
Drew Pember - UNC Asheville
Chris Youngblood - Kennesaw St.
Second Team
Terrell Burden - Kennesaw St.
Tajion Jones - UNC Asheville
Jacob Ognacevic - Lipscomb
Kyle Rhode - Liberty
DaQuan Smith - Radford
Pember has posted one of the best seasons ever by a Big South player in 2022-23. Pember is not only the first player in conference history to lead the league scoring, rebounding, and blocks in a single season but he is also the first player in Big South history to be named the Preseason Player of the Year, Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Tournament MVP in the same season. He was also named the Big South Player of the Week five times.
The Knoxville, Tennessee native had plenty of stats to back up the awards he received. He broke Asheville's single season scoring record (720 points) along with the free throws made (262) and attempted (274) records. His 262 makes from the line are the 10th-most in the history of Division I men's basketball and leads the nation in 2022-23. His 720 points scored are the fourth-most in the country and his blocked shot total of 78 is eighth in Division I.
Jones played in and started all 34 games for Asheville in 2022-23. He became Asheville's all-time scoring leader (1,976 points) and 3-pointers made (98). Jones also became the Big South's all-time leader in games played (148) and minutes played (4,935). He scored in double figures in 29 of the team's 34 games and recorded seven 20-plus point performances. Matched a career-high with 30 points on three different occasions and matched the school record with eight 3-pointers made in a game twice in 2022-23. Jones became the first Big South player to ever score 1,800 points, grab 600 rebounds, and make over 300 3-pointers in 2022-23. For his work all season, Jones was named to the All-Big South First Team at the conclusion of the regular season. Furthermore, he was named to the All-Big South Tournament team for his play in Asheville's Big South Tournament run.
USBWA All-District Team
Armando Bacot, North Carolina
Hunter Tyson, Clemson
Tyree Appleby, Wake Forest
Kyle Filipowski, Duke
Terquavion Smith, NC State
Darius McGhee, Liberty
Jahmir Young, Maryland
Drew Pember, UNC Asheville
Jarkel Joiner, NC State
Reece Beekman, Virginia
NABC All-District Teams
First Team
Devontae Blanton - Eastern Kentucky
Kenny Dye - Queens
Darius McGhee - Liberty
Drew Pember - UNC Asheville
Chris Youngblood - Kennesaw St.
Second Team
Terrell Burden - Kennesaw St.
Tajion Jones - UNC Asheville
Jacob Ognacevic - Lipscomb
Kyle Rhode - Liberty
DaQuan Smith - Radford
Players Mentioned
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