AJ Green

CEDAR FALLS — Northern Iowa guard AJ Green, the Missouri Valley Conference’s Men’s Basketball Player of the Year, has declared for the 2020 NBA Draft.

The Panthers made the announcement in a brief statement Saturday afternoon, noting that Green would not hire an agent and therefore maintain the last two years of his collegiate eligibility should he go undrafted.

Green led the MVC in scoring average (21.8), 3-point field goals made per game (3.3), free-throw percentage (.936) and minutes played (36.6) in his sophomore campaign in 2019-20. His 88 3-pointers this past winter rank third all-time in a single season at UNI, and his 591 points put him seventh.

For the year, Green averaged 19.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

Green became the Panthers’ fourth MVC Player of the Year this past season and just the third sophomore ever to win the award, named after former Indiana State and Boston Celtics great Larry Bird. Green was eventually named to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s all-district team alongside Iowa’s Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp and Iowa State’s Tyrese Haliburton.

Green, a four-star recruit from Cedar Falls High School, has started in all 65 games of his Panther career. He was the MVC’s Freshman of the Year in 2018-19.