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| NIU guard Xavier Silas (left) drives past Buffalo's Rodney Pierce on Jan. 30 at the Convocation Center. Silas has withdrawn his name from the NBA Draft and will return for his senior season. (Rob Winner – rwinner@daily-chronicle.com) |
Xavier Silas said he was open-minded about his future when he declared himself eligible for the NBA draft two weeks ago.
On Thursday, the Northern Illinois guard made the decision to pull his name out of the draft and return to school for his senior season.
“I had a great opportunity to work on my game and get some valuable feedback from family and friends the past few weeks,” Silas said. “It was a great experience and I’m glad I did it. I always had the feeling that I would return to NIU for my senior season."
Silas had until May 8 to pull out of the draft and retain his eligibility, which was a much earlier timeframe than in past years, when early entrees had until mid-June to stay in or withdraw and return to school. He did not hire an agent.
The honorable mention All-Mid-American Conference guard will be one of three returning starters for the 10-20 Huskies. Silas averaged 19.7 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.6 assists as a junior and shot 38.3 percent from the field, 32.1 percent from three-point range and 81.1 percent from the free-throw line.
Silas' feeling that he would be coming back likely was helped by the fact that no draft analysts had Silas going in either round of the draft, even after he declared. Silas himself said two weeks ago that a winning season would go a long way in proving that he could lead a team not only in the box score, but in the standings, as well.
"I think we could have had a better season last year," Silas said after he declared. "But we didn't. We went on that 10-game losing streak. I think coming back and showing that I can lead a team to a conference championship is big for me individually and is big for the program. Coming back wouldn't be bad at all."
