Juwan Morgan will withdraw his name from consideration for this summer's NBA Draft and return for his senior season. The junior forward announced his decision Tuesday via his personal Instagram account, the day before the deadline for early entrants.
"It’s been a great process and I thank all the teams for their feedback, but after talking with my family, coaches, and closest friends, it is in my best interest to return to IU," Morgan said in a statement released from the program. "It has always been a goal of mine to play basketball at the highest level and that hasn’t changed."
A USBWA All-District, NABC Second Team All-District and Second Team All-Big Ten selection in 2017-18, Morgan averaged a team-high 16.5 points and 7.4 rebounds in 29.4 minutes per game while starting in 30 of the 31 games he appeared in. He had at least one workout during the pre-draft process with the NBA's Atlanta Hawks.
Morgan flourished in his first season under Archie Miller, improving his overall scoring by 8.8 points and his Big Ten output by 10.6 points while shooting a career-best 57.9 percent from the field. Against conference opposition, he averaged 17.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks.
The decision provides a big lift to Indiana's frontcourt, which will be returning last year's No. 9 scorer and tied-for-fourth-best rebounder in the Big Ten to a rotation featuring freshman forwards Jerome Hunter and Jake Forrester, redshirt freshman forward Race Thompson, sophomore forwards Justin Smith and Clifton Moore, junior forward De'Ron Davis and grad transfer forward Evan Fitzner.
With Morgan back for his senior year, Indiana is now back at the NCAA limit of 13 scholarships.
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