Darius Garland withdraws from Vanderbilt to prepare for 2019 NBA Draft

Darius Garland is no longer attending Vanderbilt.

The guard announced Tuesday he will be withdrawing from school and focusing on rehabilitation leading up to the 2019 NBA Draft.

"I will be forever grateful to Vanderbilt and wish the program much success for the remainder of this season and beyond," Garland's announcement read, in part.

Next Chapter?? pic.twitter.com/nK4b1qdox3

— Darius Garland (@dariusgarland22) January 22, 2019

Garland suffered a season-ending knee injury in his fifth collegiate game, but one NBA executive told 247Sports this will have "zero" effect on his draft stock.

"Just get focused and start the new chapter," Garland told 247Sports about the decision. "Coming off this injury it's a long process. I'm going to stay focused on this and that’s why I chose to do this now."

Garland joined the Commodores as a five-star recruit and averaged 19.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists through his first four games.

"It was a really hard decision from sitting down with my family," Garland said. "I talked to coach (Bryce) Drew and the coaching staff and it was the best fit for me because of where I'm placed right now is really unbelievable, especially coming off the injury.

"Just having a chance to play in the league, which I've been dreaming about since I can remember, playing in the NBA, just having that chance I couldn't turn that down.

He remains one of the top guard prospects in his class.