CEDAR FALLS ? Northern Iowa men’s basketball standout AJ Green told The Gazette on Wednesday that he will remain in the NBA Draft.

The decision comes ahead of Wednesday night’s 10:59 p.m. CT deadline to either remain in the draft or return to college, where Green had entered the transfer portal and indicated interest in Duke or Iowa State should he return to school.

Along with confirming his decision to keep his name in the NBA Draft, Green released the following statement:

“The past month has been a tremendous learning experience for me. Most notably, it indicates that my hard work is paying off, and I will continue to trust this moving forward. I believe at this time it is best for me to remain in the NBA Draft and begin my journey of playing professional basketball. I want to give a huge thank you to all of Panther Nation and everyone that’s supported me throughout my time at UNI.”

The Cedar Falls native finishes his career at UNI as a two-time Missouri Valley Conference player of the year and MVC freshman of the year in 2018-19. He finished third on UNI’s all-time scoring list (1,769), second in career 3-point field goals made (266) and first in career free-throw percentage (90 percent).

Green was invited to the NBA G League Elite Camp this offseason and has worked out for several teams, most recently the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks.

The NBA Draft is June 23.

This story will be updated Thursday with more remarks from Green.