Auburn All-SEC point guard Wendell Green Jr. declares for 2023 NBA Draft

Auburn All-SEC point guard Wendell Green Jr. declares for 2023 NBA Draft

Auburn starting point guard Wendell Green Jr., a second-team All-SEC selection this season, has declared for the 2023 NBA Draft.

Green, who spent two seasons at Auburn after starting his career at Eastern Kentucky, announced his decision on social media late Sunday afternoon.

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“Thank you,” Green posted in a graphic on his social media accounts. “It has been a great honor to play for Auburn University for the past few seasons. Thank you to the coaching and training staff for your guidance, advice and leadership. I would also like to thank my teammates and everyone who has played a role in helping me get to where I am today. I would like to announce that I will be starting my professional career and declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft.”

While Green’s announced his intent to begin his professional career, as an underclassman, he has until 11:59 p.m. on May 31 to withdraw his name from the NBA Draft pool and retain his college eligibility.

Green spent the last two seasons playing point guard for Auburn, serving as the Tigers’ sixth man during the 2021-22 campaign in which the program climbed to No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time ever, won the SEC regular-season title and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. This season, as a junior, he stepped into the starting role at point guard and earned second-team All-SEC honors. He was the team’s second-leading scorer, averaging 13.7 points per game, and averaged 4.1 assists and 3.2 rebounds per game for Auburn, which went 21-13, earned a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the second round before losing to top-seeded Houston in Birmingham.

Green’s decision to turn pro is the latest roster development for Bruce Pearl’s program this offseason. Earlier in the week, freshmen Yohan Traore (a former five-star prospect) and Chance Westry (a four-star recruit and top-40 prospect in the 2022 class) both entered the transfer portal after just one season on the Plains. Auburn is still waiting on the decisions of a trio of seniors who have a remaining year of eligibility — Allen Flanigan, Jaylin Williams and Stretch Akingbola — but as it stands with those three included, the Tigers are set to return eight scholarship players from this year’s team while adding highly touted 2023 point guard signee Aden Holloway to the fold.

That leaves four scholarships currently open for Pearl and his staff to fill out in restructuring Auburn’s roster for the 2023-24 season, as the Tigers return to the full 13-scholarship allotment after fulfilling their NCAA-sanctioned scholarship deductions stemming from the 2017 investigation into the program.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.