Sophomore guard Brown decides to enter NBA Draft

Ahead of Miami’s brief stint in the NCAA Tournament, Hurricanes men’s basketball coach Jim Larrañaga indicated there was a good chance fans had seen the last of Bruce Brown in a Miami uniform.

It’s a chance that still exists, it turns out.

Though Brown — a sophomore who missed the Hurricanes’ last 12 games of the year with a foot injury — declared Thursday he intended to enter the NBA Draft, he did not hire an agent, leaving open the possibility he could return to Miami for his junior year.

Players have until April 22 to enter their names into the draft and June 11 to withdraw from draft consideration.

Brown, who underwent seasontentions ending foot surgery in February, averaged 11.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4 assists in the 19 games he started prior to getting hurt.

Thursday morning, not long after Miami announced Brown’s in- via its Twitter feed, Brown posted a message of his own, tweeting, “I will be declaring for the 2018 NBA Draft!!”

The 6-foot-5 Brown, who opted to return to Miami after a season in which he set freshman single-season records in points (391), field goals made (134) and minutes played (1,053), is not projected as a first-round pick by the site nbadraft.net, though that site’s mock draft has one of his teammates — freshman Lonnie Walker IV — going No. 14 to the Denver Nuggets.

Walker, who averaged 11.5 points, was Miami’s leading scorer and has been considered a potential lottery pick all season.

Before the ACC Tournament, he said he had not made a decision about whether to declare for the draft or not, adding that was something he’d focus on with his family once the season was over.

The draft will be held June 21 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

LYNNE SLADKY/AP Bruce Brown Jr. averaged 11.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4 assists in the 19 games he played this season before getting hurt.