Charlotte Native Deandre’ Bembry Finding His Way In The NBA

CHALROTTE, N.C. — Charlotte native, and Atlanta Hawks forward, DeAndre’ Bembry has been underrated his whole career.  Despite the lack of attention, he persevered until he became a first-round Draft Pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Bembry played with the Charlotte Nets AAU organization for years.  “I played with them since I was about 8 or 9 til I was 16 or 17.”

He played one year at Rocky River High School before transferring to St. Patrick High School in New Jersey.

No prominent college basketball programs showed much interest in the 6’6″ Bembry. “Most of the school’s I was looking at were mid major,” Bembry noted.

He chose St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, where he made an immediate impact, and was named Atlantic-10 Rookie of the Year.

DeAndre’ was recognized as the Atlantic-10 Player of the Year following his junior season and was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 21st pick in the 2016 draft.

Separate tragedies claimed the lives of his brother and cousin in 2016, but Deandre’ has not let the painful losses deter him from his goal of becoming a productive NBA player.

He played well for the Hawks in limited minutes during the 2016-2017 season, and may see his role expand as the team signals their intention to rebuild by trading Dwight Howard and possibly parting ways with Paul Milsap.