In a move that will likely end his collegiate career, junior guard Jeremy Green made himself eligible for the 2011 NBA Draft, according to head coach Johnny Dawkins. Green was the fifth-leading scorer in the Pac-10 last season with 16.7 points per game.

He will not hire an agent in order to maintain his NCAA eligibility. He has until May 8 to withdraw from the draft and return to school with his remaining eligibility intact.

In a statement Thursday, Dawkins said, “This is an exciting opportunity for Jeremy as he explores his options regarding the NBA.”

There was some speculation that Green might explore his draft options earlier this month, when it was announced that he had been suspended from school for academic reasons.

Stanford Athletics spokesman Brian Risso said that the 6-foot-4 shooting guard’s status for next season would not be affected by the suspension, and that the first-team All-Pac-10 selection is expected to play when the Cardinal heads to Spain for a preseason tour in September.

A native of Austin, Texas, Green is an exceptional shooter who made 88 three-point shots last season, good for second in the Pac-10, while shooting at a 43-percent clip. For his career, he is a 41.3 percent three-point shooter and is in second place on Stanford’s all-time three-point field goals list with 228 in three seasons on the Farm.

Losing Green would leave a large hole in the Cardinal lineup. Stanford will graduate no other players from last season’s 15-16 squad, but Green accounted for just over 25 percent of the team’s total points. Freshmen Anthony Brown, Gabriel Harris and Robbie Lemons could all be in the mix for Green’s playing time, as well as potentially playing junior starting point guard Jarrett Mann alongside freshman point guard Aaron Bright.

Dawkins has previously said that he thought Green would return for his senior season. Green will likely work out for a number of NBA teams in the next few days to gauge his draft value before making a decision in advance of next weekend’s deadline.