Saint Joseph’s junior DeAndre’ Bembry was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-6 former Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick’s star also earned All-Conference First Team honors for the second year in a row and was named to the All-Defensive Team.
His teammate Isaiah Miles won the league’s Most Improved Player Award.
Bembry became the first Hawk to be named the A-10 Player of the Year since Ahmad Nivins in 2008-09, and is the fifth SJU player to earn the honor.
He averaged 17.0 points and 7.8 rebounds, while topping the team with 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He is one of just three players in the nation to average over 17 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists, and is the only player to do while averaging less than 2.5 turnovers.
For his career, the junior has recorded close to 1,500 career points and over 600 rebounds.
Bembry is projected as the No. 50 pick in the NBA Draft by DraftExpress.com.
“I’ve had talks with my [family] a couple times, but basically we just said, ‘Let’s just play out this year and see how everything ends up,” Bembry told me in December. “I mean, if I have to enter [the draft] this summer, you may never know, it might happen. Or I might want to come back so I just feel like it depends on how good of a year we have and where I am on the stock.
“So right now I’m just trying to play basketball and just try to win games.”
St. Joe’s opens play as the No. 4 seed in the A-10 Tournament on Friday at Barclays Center.
