Star Georgetown center Roy Hibbert announced Wednesday that he will return to school for his senior season, while teammate and reigning Big East Player of the Year Jeff Green chose to keep his name in the NBA Draft.
"I said to myself, 'Do I really want to go in the draft and sit on the bench?'" Hibbert said. "My heart was here."
The decisions came as a bit of a surprise considering that it was Green who had consistently stated his intention to play four years of college basll and win a national championship, and said last month that he was leaning "70/30" towards returning to school while Hibbert said he was merely 50/50.
"Just sitting down with my family and coach, I feel like we came to a decision that I should stay in this draft, and it would be the best thing for me after the season that the team had and that I had," said Green. "I'm in a good position to go pretty high in this draft."
Some early mock drafts have had Green going in the top ten but not Hibbert, while others have had Hibbert going in the top ten but not Green.
Had Hibbert and Green both chosen to return, the Hoyas would almost certainly have been a lock to enter the '07-'08 season as the No. 1 team in the land. Still, Hibbert will likely be a preseason All-American and returns to a Final Four team that graduated no one and added a pair of McDonald's All-Americans in the offseason.
Despite his announcement, there is a very slim chance that Green could still choose to return to school.
The draft is June 28, and Green has until June 18 to withdraw his name. He said his decision is not "set in stone," but he also said he is about to start the process of selecting an agent. If he hires an agent, he will be ineligible to return.