May 29, 2018
AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn junior guard Bryce Brown has withdrawn his name from consideration from the 2018 NBA Draft and has chosen to return for final season, Brown announced Tuesday morning.
"It has been a dream of mine to play in the NBA one day," Brown said. "I learned a lot about my game throughout this process and I want to thank everyone who helped me get to this point in my career. With that said, after talking with my family and coaches, I have decided to return for my senior season at Auburn. We accomplished a lot last year on the court and I can't wait to see what we can do next year."
In his third season, Brown more than doubled his scoring average to 15.9 points per game and became the 36th player in program history to tally 1,000 career points. The Stone Mountain, Ga. native is just the 18th player in the Auburn record books to reach 1,000 points by the conclusion of their junior season.
"Bryce has moved the needle as much as any player in college basketball," head coach Bruce Pearl said. "To go from Auburn being the only SEC school to offer him and in three years be one of 30 players on the Naismith Trophy Watch List is truly remarkable. His ability to work hard, as well as accept coaching and changing roles has made him an All-SEC player."
Brown paced the Tigers to a program record 324 makes from downtown, smashing the previous mark of 289 last season. Brown buried 107 3s - the second-most in single-season history - and moved into second on the career 3-pointers list with 241 buckets from behind the arc.
He also held his defensive assignment to shoot just 37 percent from the floor and induced 100 turnovers during the 2017-18 campaign.
For his efforts, Brown was named First Team All-SEC by the Associated Press and Second Team All-SEC by the league's coaches.
Brown and Auburn capped a historic season with a conference title at 26-8 overall and 13-5 in league play and received a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003.