Rhodes making a return

Published 2:02 pm Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Charles Rhodes has withdrawn from the NBA draft and will be back at Mississippi State next season for his senior year.

Rhodes, a 6-foot-8 forward from Jackson, made the announcement Monday in a news release from the university.

Monday was the final day for underclassmen to remove their names from the draft.

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“I have officially withdrawn my name from the 2007 NBA draft by faxing the required paperwork to the NBA office,” Rhodes said in the news release. “The NBA put this policy in place to allow underclassmen like myself to test the draft waters, and I simply took advantage of the opportunity. I now have a better perspective on the areas of my game that I need to work on in order to improve my status for next year’s draft.”

Rhodes was named to the second team of the coaches All-SEC team for a second consecutive season in March after averaging 13.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

• Rhodes was one of the players that pulled out, but Jeff Green is headed to the NBA, rather than trying to take Georgetown to another Final Four.

Green is staying in the draft, instead of returning to school for his senior season. His decision came Monday, the deadline for early entrants who hadn’t hired an agent to withdraw and retain their NCAA eligibility.

Washington center Spencer Hawes, like Green expected to be taken in the top half of the first round, also is staying in the draft. But a pair of all-conference guards, All-ACC pick Sean Singletary of Virginia and Nevada’s Marcelus Kemp, an all-WAC selection, are going back to school.