Ruben R. "RJ" Nembhard Jr. (born March 22, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Capital City Go-Go of the NBA G League. He played college basketball for the TCU Horned Frogs.

Early life and high school career

Nembhard grew up playing

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

and started playing basketball at age 10. He attended Keller High School in Keller, Texas. Nembhard averaged 21 points as a junior, earning District 5-6A MVP honors. In his senior season, he averaged 25.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Nembhard was named '' Star-Telegram'' Super Team Player of the Year and District 3-6A MVP. A four-star recruit, he committed to playing college basketball for

TCU TCU may stand for: Education * Tanzania Commission for Universities, regulatory body for Universities in Tanzania * Texas Christian University, a private university in Fort Worth, Texas ** TCU Horned Frogs, the athletic programs of the school * Tok ...

over offers from Texas,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, Kansas State and Baylor.

College career

Nembhard redshirted his first season at TCU after receiving limited playing time through six games and suffering a knee injury. As a freshman, he came off the bench, averaging 4.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game. On January 4, 2020, he scored a career-high 31 points in an 81–79 overtime win over

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

. As a sophomore, Nembhard averaged 12.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. As a junior, he averaged 15.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and four assists per game, earning Third Team All- Big 12 honors. On March 29, 2021, Nembhard declared for the

2021 NBA draft The 2021 NBA draft, the 75th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on July 29, 2021, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. With the first overall pick, the Detroit Pistons selected Cade Cunningham. The NBA us ...

while maintaining his college eligibility. He later decided to remain in the draft.

Professional career

Cleveland Cavaliers (2021–2022)

After going undrafted in the

, Nembhard joined the Miami Heat for the

2021 NBA Summer League The 2021 NBA Summer League was an off-season competition held by the National Basketball Association (NBA) at the Thomas and Mack Center and Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada on the campus of University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The summer league cons ...

. On September 27, 2021, he signed with the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers (often referred to as the Cavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. On October 16, his deal was converted to a two-way contract with the Cleveland Charge of the NBA G League. On March 31, 2022, he signed a standard contract with the Cavaliers. On April 7, he was waived by the Cavaliers and three days later, he signed another two-way contract with the

Motor City Cruise (2022)

On November 9, 2022, the

Motor City Cruise The Motor City Cruise are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Detroit, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Detroit Pistons. The Cruise play their home games at Wayne State Fieldhouse. The franchise began play a ...

announced via their Twitter account that they had acquired Nembhard.

UNAHOTELS Reggio Emilia (2022–2023)

On December 12, 2022, Nembhard signed with UNAHOTELS Reggio Emilia of the Lega Basket Serie A.

Fos Provence Basket (2023)

On January 19, 2023, Nembhard signed with

Fos Provence Basket Fos Provence Basket, also known as Fos-sur-mer, is a professional basketball team based in Fos-sur-mer, France. The team currently plays in the first tier LNB Pro A, after its promotion in the 2020–21 season. Home games are played in the Complex ...

of the

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

Filou Oostende (2023)

On September 9, 2023, Nembhard signed with

Filou Oostende Basketball Club Oostende, for sponsorship reasons Filou Oostende, is a Belgian professional basketball team. The club is based in Ostend and was founded in 1970. The club competes domestically in the BNXT League and internationally in the Baske ...

of the

BNXT League The BNXT League, for sponsorship reasons the betFirst BNXT League, is a professional basketball league in Belgium and the Netherlands. The league is the first tier in both the Dutch and Belgian system, replacing the Dutch Basketball League, DBL a ...

, but was released on November 19.

Capital City Go-Go (2024–present)

On March 22, 2024, Nembhard joined the Capital City Go-Go.

Career statistics

NBA

, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Cleveland , 14 , , 0 , , 4.5 , , .333 , , .000 , , .750 , , .5 , , .9 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 14 , , 0 , , 4.5 , , .333 , , .000 , , .750 , , .5 , , .9 , , .1 , , .0 , , 1.1

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 0 , , 5.5 , , .286 , , .000 , , .250 , , 1.0 , , .8 , , .0 , , .2 , , 1.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;",

, 36 , , 8 , , 17.2 , , .351 , , .299 , , .615 , , 2.1 , , .9 , , .5 , , .4 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2019–20 , style="text-align:left;",

, 29 , , 28 , , 32.1 , , .366 , , .313 , , .740 , , 3.8 , , 3.5 , , 1.0 , , .2 , , 12.1 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 24 , , 24 , , 34.9 , , .400 , , .339 , , .778 , , 4.3 , , 4.0 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 15.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 95 , , 60 , , 25.5 , , .375 , , .314 , , .724 , , 3.1 , , 2.5 , , .8 , , .3 , , 9.4

Personal life

Son of Ruben & Terri Nembhard. Nembhard's father, Ruben, played one season in the NBA/15 seasons overseas and works as a trainer and skills development coach. His grandfather,

Joe Beauchamp Joseph Scott Beauchamp (April 11, 1944May 20, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a defensive back for the San Diego Chargers. He played college football at Iowa State University before playing professionally for the Charg ...

played ten seasons as a defensive back with the San Diego Chargers and his sister, Jayden, plays volleyball fo
Long Beach State

References

External links

TCU Horned Frogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nembhard, RJ 1999 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Belgium American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from Tarrant County, Texas BC Oostende players Capital City Go-Go players Cleveland Cavaliers players Cleveland Charge players Fos Provence Basket players Lega Basket Serie A players Motor City Cruise players Pallacanestro Reggiana players People from Keller, Texas Point guards Shooting guards TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball players Undrafted NBA players