UPDATE 04/23/14 2:15 p.m.— LSU freshman forward Jordan Mickey announced he will return to Baton Rouge for his sophomore season on Wednesday.
“I need to continue to get bigger, stronger, faster and improve on my skillset,” Mickey said. “I want to come back and help my team win some more games.”
Alongside LSU coach Johnny Jones, Mickey said the decision was a tough one, but he sees the Tigers as an “NCAA qualifying” team coming back.
“I can’t tell you how excited we are with the news that Jordan will be back with our basketball program next year,” Jones said.
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LSU freshman forward Jordan Mickey will announce his plans for next season at a 2 p.m. press conference on Wednesday alongside Tigers’ head coach Johnny Jones.
The NCAA deadline to withdraw from the NBA Draft passed on April 15, meaning if Mickey decides to forgo his sophomore season and enter the draft, he could not return to LSU.
Mickey started all 34 games of his freshman campaign, garnering a spot on the All-Southeastern Conference Freshman Team and All-SEC Defensive Team. League coaches selected him to the conference’s second team.
The Dallas native scored in double figures in 26 of his 34 starts and became only the second Tiger basketball player to block 100 shots in a season. His 106 blocks were the fourth-best total in LSU history and put him in seventh place on the all time list.
Mickey averaged 12.7 points and led the Tigers with 7.9 rebounds per game.