TCU’s RJ Nembhard, a former Keller High star, earns some recognition from the Big 12
TCU junior guard RJ Nembhard averaged 20.5 points, 8.0 assists and 5.5 rebounds in two games last week.
Those numbers were impressive enough to earn Nembhard recognition from the Big 12 on Monday, being named the league’s conference player of the week. It’s the first such honor for Nembhard and the second weekly award won by a TCU player. Freshman guard Mike Miles was named the conference’s newcomer of the week in the opening week.
Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham was named the league’s newcomer of the week for the second consecutive week Monday.
Nembhard, who had a stellar high school career at Keller, had a couple standout games for the Frogs. He scored 16 points and tied a career-high with nine assists in a 73-55 victory over Texas A&M on Saturday. In a loss to Providence on Wednesday, Nembhard scored 25 points and made a career-high 11 field goals on 17 attempts.
For the week, Nembhard shot 63% from the field (17-of-27) and 50% from 3-point range (5-of-10).
Smith leaves team
TCU sophomore guard Diante Smith entered the NCAA transfer portal last week and is reportedly heading to South Alabama.
Smith played in the first four games this season, averaging 1.5 points. He played 18 minutes in the opener against Houston Baptist, but then saw his playing time dwindle to less than five minutes in each of the next three games.
Smith played in 31 games, including five starts, last season. He averaged 2.5 points a game.
Smith’s highest-scoring game at TCU was a nine-point effort at Oklahoma last season.
New time
Wednesday’s TCU-Oklahoma State game in Stillwater has been pushed up to 6 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to start at 8 p.m.
The game will be televised on ESPN.
TCU (5-2, 0-1 Big 12) lost its Big 12 opener to Oklahoma, while Oklahoma State (6-0) will be playing its first Big 12 game of the season.
Women’s hoops honored
TCU women’s basketball earned some Big 12 recognition, too, with Lauren Heard being named co-Big 12 player of the week along with Iowa State’s Ashley Joens.
Heard, a senior guard, averaged 20.5 points a game (16 points vs. Lamar and 25 points vs. Middle Tennessee) as TCU won both of its games.
The TCU women’s team returns to Big 12 action this weekend, traveling to Texas Tech on Saturday.
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 2:20 PM.
