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Despite not being drafted on Thursday night in the 2015 NBA Draft, former Nebraska forward Terran Petteway has found a landing spot for the 2015 NBA Summer League with the Atlanta Hawks. Petteway left a year of eligibility on the table when he decided to declare for the NBA and will look to make his decision fruitful by landing on an NBA roster next fall.
A 6'6" forward, Petteway was a breakout star in 2014, leading the Cornhuskers to their first NCAA Tournament bid since 1998. Petteway has been a scoring machine during his time at Nebraska, averaging 18.1 points per game in 2014, and improving ever so slightly to 18.2 points per this past season. However, his shooting percentage dropped slightly from his first season with Nebraska, going from 42.6-percent to 39.6-percent from the floor, 32.7-percent to 31.3-percent from beyond the arc, and finally even his free throw shooting suffered in his final collegiate season, dropping from 81.9-percent to 71.1-percent.
Petteway began his collegiate career at Texas Tech, playing in 27 games as a true freshman, averaging just over 3 points per game while starting in 11 contests, 10 of which came in Big 12 play. The Red Raiders went 8-23 that season and Petteway made the decision to transfer and sit out the 2012-13 season.
Petteway accrued a host of accolades during his time at Nebraska starting with an election to the 2014 First-Team All-Big Ten by both the media and coaches. National writers took notice as Petteway entered 2014-15 as a Preseason All-American (2nd and/or 3rd team depending on the outlet) and landing on the Preseason Wooden Award Nominee list. Petteway was an Honorable-mention All-American this season despite the Cornhuskers stumbling to a 13-18 record.
Making the roster for a deep and talented Atlanta Hawks team will be tough, but Petteway's diverse game should give him a chance and the Summer League is more about "wowing" a single GM, not specifically the team that a player is signed to play with for the summer. If Petteway can play well and impress someone, he could find an NBA roster spot somewhere, even if not with Atlanta.