Neemias Queta returns for junior season
Utah State University men’s basketball all-conference center Neemias Queta made the announcement Sunday evening that he would forgo the 2020 NBA draft and return to the Aggies for a third season.
“My dream has always been to play in NBA, but now is not the right time to declare for the Draft,” Queta wrote in a message via his Twitter. “We have continued to build a great program here at Utah State and it is one that I am very proud of representing.”
— Quetão 🔥🤷🏿♂️ (@nemi1599) April 27, 2020
The Portugal native declared for the 2019 NBA draft following his freshman season at Utah State, but removed his name after going through the pre-draft process and NBA combine, prior to the final deadline for NCAA athletes. It wouldn’t have been a surprise if he had thrown his name in for the draft yet again following another solid season with the Aggies; However, a knee injury while playing in the FIBA U-20 tournament with Portugal kept him out of 12 games in the 2019-20 season once he returned to Utah State. Queta didn’t get fully fit until the end of the season and his production dropped slightly because of it.
Despite the injury, Queta still managed to improve his scoring from 11.8 his freshman season to 13.0 this past year. Utah State went on a memorable run through the Mountain West tournament — capturing its second straight title — and Queta made the all-tournament team.
With Sam Merrill graduating and moving on to a professional basketball career — and the transfer of Abel Porter to Ohio State — Queta has the opportunity to become the leading scorer on the team in 2020-21 and the focal point of the offense. At the very least, a healthy Queta would most likely garner more attention from opposing teams without Merrill’s 19.7 points and 13.2 shot attempts per game on the court.
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— sports@usustatesman.com