ABOUT

DREW PEMBER

The following year Drew led his team to an NCAA tournament, and to a Big South Championship, having one of the best seasons in UNC Asheville history. Drew was the first Big South player to lead the league in scoring, rebounding and blocks in a single season. Led the country in free throws (made & attempted) and named a finalist to the Lute Olson (Top Player in Division I).

This period was the beginning of NCAA’s NIL, which changed the rule to allow student-athletes to control and profit off their name, image, and likeness. This rule allowed Drew the opportunity to fulfill his long-time passion for helping others and drove him to donate and support to The Friends of Santa Claus, a non-profit organization providing financial and emotional support to children with cancer and their families.

Drew plans to earn his degree in business management after his season and was recently the recipient of the Dane Bradshaw Endowed Athletic Scholarship and the Richard Mark Foster Family Scholarship.

Drew Pember was born and raised in Tennessee, a Graduate of Bearden High School in Knoxville, TN.  Drew’s parents; Mom Allison Nix, and Father Donny Pember attended nearby Carson-Newman University, both were student- athletes, Allison playing Volleyball and Donny basketball.

  

As a High School upperclassman, Drew was rated as the No. 7 overall prospect in his class in the state of Tennessee, and as a senior helped lead Bearden to the Tennessee Class AAA Championship.  Drew signed his National Letter of Intent to the University of Tennessee in the fall of 2018. During his two-year stint in Knoxville, Drew worked hard to have a positive impact on and off the basketball court. In the Spring of 2021 he entered the NCAA transfer Portal and enrolled and transferred to UNCA.  

In his first season in a Bulldog uniform, Pember was a dominant player for Asheville.  The Knoxville, Tenn. native was named the Big South's Defensive Player of the Year and named to the Big South All First Team.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES

  • 2022-23 Big South Male Athlete of the Year

  • 2022-23 Big South Player of the Year

  • 2022-23 Big South Tournament MVP

  • 2023 Lou Henson National Player of the Year Finalist, 2023 Lou Henson All-America Team

  • 2023 USBWA All-District

  • 2023 NABC All-District First Team

  • 2022-23 Big South Preseason Player of the Year

  • Eight-time Big South Player of the Week 

  • 2022 NABC All-District Second Team

  • 2021-22 Big South First Team 

  • 2021-22, 2022-23 Big South Defensive Player of the Year

  • Hoops HD All-Conference and Defensive Player of the Year