MANHATTAN, Kan. – Current junior guard Barry Brown, Jr., is withdrawing his name from the 2018 NBA Draft process and will return to K-State for his senior season in 2018-19.
“Although the process was more than enjoyable I have decided to withdraw my name from the 2018 NBA Draft,” said Brown via social media. “Thank you to everyone who supported me and I am looking forward to finishing my senior season as a Wildcat.”
A 6-foot-3, 195-pound three-year lettermen from St. Petersburg, Florida, Brown enters his senior season in 2018-19, ranking 12th on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,283 points having seen action in all 105 career games at K-State with 83 consecutive starts. He also ranks third all-time in steals with 189, just 22 shy of breaking Jacob Pullen’s career mark of 210 set from 2007-11, as well as in the career Top 10 for field goals attempted (1,094), 3-point field goals attempted (401) and minutes played (3,283).
“Obviously, we are excited to have Barry back for his senior season,” said head coach Bruce Weber. “This was an important step for him and his family to explore his dreams of playing in the NBA. He went into it with the right mindset and now realizes where he needs to improve in the next year to reach that goal. I know that he is excited and ready to get back to building on what we accomplished last season.”
An All-Big 12 Second Team selection and a member of the Big 12’s All-Defensive Team, Brown enjoyed a career-best season as a junior in 2017-18, averaging 15.9 points on 44.8 percent shooting (203-of-453), including 31.8 percent (42-of-132) from 3-point range, to go with 3.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 34.7 minutes per game. The team leader in double-digit scoring games (29), 20-point games (11), assists (120) and steals (67), he became the first Wildcat to post 500 points, 100 rebounds, 100 assists and 50 steals in a single season.
Brown became the fifth Wildcat to be named to one of the Big 12’s First, Second or Third Teams as well as the All-Defensive Team in the same season, joining Jacob Pullen (2010, 2011), Rodney McGruder (2012), Angel Rodriguez (2013) and Wesley Iwundu (2016). Overall, he is first All-Defensive Team member since Iwundu in 2016.
In helping K-State to its first Elite Eight since 2010, Brown was selected to NCAA South Regional All-Tournament after averaging 13.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in games against
Kentucky and Loyola Chicago. Overall, he averaged a team-best 15.8 points per game in the Wildcats’ four NCAA Tournament games.
Brown finished among the Big 12 leaders in six categories, including scoring (eighth), assists (11th), free throw percentage (13th), steals (second), assist/turnover ratio (13th) and minutes (sixth). He also ranked among the conference’s Top 15 in six categories in league-only games, including scoring (fourth), assists (eighth), field goal percentage (15th), steals (second), assist/turnover ratio (11th) and minutes (sixth).
With the return of Brown, K-State is now expected to return 11 lettermen in 2018-19, including all six players who earned starts, from a team that won 25 games a season ago and advanced to its first NCAA Elite Eight since 2009-10. Along with Brown, the team will return All-Big 12 First Team selection Dean Wade (16.2 ppg., 6.2 rpg.), fellow senior Kamau Stokes (9.0 ppg., 3.4 apg.), rising juniors Xavier Sneed (11.1 ppg., 5.1 rpg.) and Makol Mawien (6.8 ppg., 3.4 rpg.) and sophomore Cartier Diarra (7.1 ppg., 2.0 apg.).
Wade and Brown were among the top scoring tandems in the country, ranking seventh and eighth, respectively, in scoring in the Big 12 and accounting for nearly 44 percent of the team’s scoring.
The Wildcats have received numerous preseason rankings, including eighth by NBCSports.com, 12th by ESPN.com, USA Today and CBSSports.com, 13th by The Athletic and Yahoo! Sports and 17th by Sports Illustrated.
The non-conference schedule is expected to be completed in the coming weeks with season tickets for the 2018-19 season set to go on sale Monday, June 11.
