Posted Monday, April 16, 6 p.m.

Junior Maureece Rice is entering the NBA Draft but plans to keep his NCAA eligibility options open, according to a GW athletic news release.

Rice, a Philadelphia native, has not retained an agent and has until June 18 to withdraw his name and keep his collegiate eligibility.

“If in fact a team had enough interest in you, that’s good. If not, they come back,” Head Coach Karl Hobbs told The Hatchet Monday evening. “I’m never one to hold a kid back from exploring.”

The 6-foot-3 guard averaged 15.8 points per game while starting all 32 games for the Colonials this season. He was also named the Atlantic 10 Championship’s most outstanding player.

Rice is the fourth GW player to declare early for the NBA Draft in Hobbs’ tenure. Last season, Danilo (J.R.) Pinnock became the first underclassman under Hobbs’ leadership to forgo his eligibility and enter the draft. Pinnock is on the NBA development league team Arkansas Rimrockers. Carl Elliott also declared early for the draft last year but returned to GW. Mike Hall and Pops Mensah-Bonsu both entered the draft after their junior years and returned to Foggy Bottom for their senior season. Hall and Mensah-Bonsu are now both with teams in the NBA.