Former Northwestern guard Chase Audige accepted an invitation Friday to join the Miami Heat’s Summer League team, where he will have the possibility of joining the team’s roster for the next regular season. 

The summer league is the NBA’s off-season competition, where teams have an opportunity to play their young, rookie or undrafted players. 

This announcement comes after Audige did not hear his name called in Thursday’s NBA draft. The star NU player decided to forego his final year of college eligibility to remain in the draft. 

Audige is a valuable pickup for the Heat – he was a star on NU’s March Madness team last season, averaging 14.1 points and 2.4 assists per game and being named the Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year. 

He will now be playing for the Eastern Conference Champions in the summer league as an Undrafted Free Agent (UDFA). 

The Heat have proven themselves to be a great landing place for players in Audige’s situation, with their roster last season containing seven initially undrafted players – the highest number of undrafted players to log minutes for a team that made it to the Finals in the modern draft era. 

For NU fans following him to the league, the Heat’s first summer league game will be on July 3 against the Los Angeles Lakers, and official summer league play will pick up on July 7. 

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