STATESBORO – Georgia Southern guard Tookie Brown has withdrawn his name from consideration for the NBA Draft and will return to Georgia Southern and play for the Eagles in 2018-19. Brown received feedback from the NBA's Undergraduate Advisory committee about his draft status. 

Brown did not hire an agent in order to preserve his NCAA eligibility. By withdrawing from consideration before the NBA's early entry deadline of June 11, he also maintains his eligibility to be drafted in 2019.

"I'm happy for Tookie that he was able to go through the evaluation process and gain some excellent advice from NBA scouts and general managers," said Georgia Southern coach Mark Byington. "Obviously, we're ecstatic that he'll be back this season and thrilled that he will earn his degree next May. He has the opportunity to be one of the best basketball players to ever play here and has a chance to compete for a championship while continuing to develop his game. I truly believe he will be in the NBA after his senior season."

Brown earned first-team All-Sun Belt and NABC All-District honors for the third straight season after posting 18.9 points, 4.3 assists and 1.8 steals per game. He enters the 2018-19 season 153 points shy of becoming the school's all-time leading scorer in the Division I era and looking to become the first four-year first-team All-Sun Belt selection in the 43-year history of the league.

Brown ranked third in the Sun Belt in scoring, second in field goal percentage (.532), fifth in assists, third in assist to turnover ratio and second in steals last season. He ranked in the top-25 nationally and led the conference in free throws attempted and free throws made and was one of only two players listed under 6-feet tall ranked in the top-100 nationally in field goal percentage. He scored 20-plus points in 16 games this season, led the Eagles in scoring in 21 contests and led the team in assists 24 times. The first Eagle to record 500 or more points in three straight seasons, Brown ranks seventh in the modern era in career scoring at Georgia Southern with 1,718 points.

Georgia Southern reached 20 wins for the second time in four years in 2017-18 and joined Louisiana and UTA as the only three Sun Belt schools to reach double-digit conference wins in each of the last four seasons. The Eagles return three starters and seven lettermen to the 2018-19 team.