The Georgia men’s basketball program and Head Coach Mark Fox received some good and welcomed news on Tuesday evening when junior Yante Maten announced via his Instagram account that he was withdrawing his name from the NBA draft and would be returning for his senior season at UGA.

 

 
 
The 6 foot 8, 240 lbs All-SEC forward announced he would be entering the NBA Draft last month but would not retain an agent, thus, leaving the option for him to return to Georgia if he chose to do so. Maten worked out for the Denver Nuggets earlier this week but was not invited to the NBA Combine, and he made his decision to return to the Bulldogs just two days before the underclassmen deadline.
 
 
What he brings back to the Georgia men’s basketball team for the 2017-2018 season is 18.2 points and 6.8 rebounds per game as well as his leadership on and off the court and a physical and tenacious play style that is infectiuous. This past season, Maten suffered a sprained right knee early in a game versus Kentucky on Saturday, February 18th that caused him to miss the next four games against Alabama, LSU, Auburn, and Arkansas. Despite missing those games, he still finished fourth in scoring, eighth in rebounding, second in field goal percentage (.519) and ninth in blocked shots (1.5) in the SEC.
 
 

 
 
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