By Jake Courtepatte

Andrew Nembhard will not be tearing up the NBA just yet.

The sophomore baller announced late last week his intent to return to the NCAA's Florida Gators for one more collegiate season, foregoing his insertion into the 2019 NBA draft pool.

Named to the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team after averaging 8.0 points and finishing fifth in league in assists at 5.4 per game, Nembhard waited until the final seconds before the deadline to pull his name from contention, after meeting with dozens of NBA scouts and executives.

“I wouldn't necessarily say I'm glad that it's over, but I'm definitely happy I went through it and got to experience it all,” said Nembhard from his Aurora home, where he is taking some much-deserved time off after leading the Gators to a March Madness berth. “I learned a lot of stuff about the process and what I need to improve on, as well as what teams like about me. I got some great feedback from teams who were very optimistic about how my game will translate to the league a few years from now. I got to compete against some great players and think I got better over the last month just by going through the process and working out with my trainers.” 

Nembhard, who attended Vaughan Secondary School through his first two years of high school before finishing out his high school career at a prep academy in Florida, is no stranger to the spotlight: he was thrust into the starting point guard position at Florida this season in just his freshman year, and has shared the court and the spotlight on plenty of occasions with former teammate R.J. Barrett, projected to go as high as second overall in this year's NBA draft.

Yet the budding star sees returning to the collegiate level as the key to raising his own draft stakes, and is willing to stay patient and wait one more year for the opportunity, adding on Twitter “Super excited to come back and play with my brothers and for Gator Nation!”

“I'm going to take that to another level this season, what with all the new guys coming in,” Nembhard said of the constant flux of teammates in the NCAA. “I've seen some of these guys play and I think we've got a really good group of hungry competitive dudes who will set a good tone in practice and take us into the season. I'm going to demand from them what it takes to win. I've won on every level of basketball in my life and last year taught me what it takes to win at the college level.”