Tookie Brown officially withdrew his name from the 2018 NBA Draft Saturday  and will return to Georgia Southern for the 2018-2019 school year and basketball season.

Brown was able to maintain his amateur status while still being able to be scouted and reviewed by NBA scouts due to not hiring an agent. The 5’11” point guard announced his “coming back” to the Eagles via Twitter.

{{tncms-inline account=”Tookie Brown” html=”<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Coming back 10x harder#showtime <a href="https://t.co/STvE6Vz6jx">pic.twitter.com/STvE6Vz6jx</a></p>— Tookie Brown (@tookie_b) <a href="https://twitter.com/tookie_b/status/1000508005589442560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2018</a></blockquote>” id=”https://twitter.com/tookie_b/status/1000508005589442560″ type=”twitter”}}

While GS will have to wait another year to send an Eagle to the draft, Brown’s return is huge for the Eagles’ chances to compete this upcoming season. Brown has become a household name in Eagle Nation and will look to be the first four year first team All-Sun belt selection in Sun Belt history. His junior year, Brown averaged 18.9 ppg and 4.3 assists per game, leading the Eagles to the Sun Belt semifinals.

“I’m happy for Tookie that he was able to go through the evaluation process and gain some excellent advice from NBA scouts and general managers,” head coach Mark Byington told gseagles. “He has the opportunity to be one of the best basketball players to ever play here and has a chance to compete for a championship while continuing to develop his game.”

With Brown returning for the 2018-2019 season, GS is certainly going to be one of the favorites in Sun Belt play. Three year starters Brown and Ike Smith at the guard position, Montae Glenn who finished top 10 in rebounds at foward and between Quan Jackson, David Lee-Jones Jr or maybe Tyshaun Crawford to round out the starting five should be one of the top starting lineups in the mid-majors. 

McClain Baxley, The George-Anne Sports Editor, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu