KU guard Wayne Selden says he’s returning for junior season

Sophomore guard Wayne Selden announced Friday that he will return to the Kansas men’s basketball team for his junior season.

Selden, a 6-foot-5 two-year starter, scored 20 points in a victory over Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals and a career-high 25 in a championship game loss to Iowa State, making the all-tournament team. But he went scoreless in 23 minutes in KU’s season-ending loss to Wichita State in the NCAA Tournament round of 32.

“I’m using that last game and the season as my everyday motivation to get better,” Selden said in a release. “I’m happy to come back to Kansas next season. This is a special place.”

Selden was third on the team in scoring at 9.4 points per game this season. He averaged 9.7 points per game as a freshman, which ranked fourth on the team.

“Wayne is such a great kid and competitor and feels that there are so many things to accomplish, not only as an individual, but as a team,” KU coach Bill Self said in a release. “He is committed to this program and I know he’ll work his tail off to put himself … in a spot to be a high (NBA) draft pick, hopefully next year, and put our team into position to have another great year.”

In the release announcing his return, Selden cited KU’s upcoming competition this summer as the U.S. representative for the World University Games in Korea as well as the Jayhawks’ Maui Invitational appearance next fall as reasons for his return.

“A lot of good things are coming up for KU and I want to be a part of that,” Selden said.

This story was originally published April 10, 2015 at 2:12 PM with the headline "KU guard Wayne Selden says he’s returning for junior season."