HispanicBusiness

University of Maryland's star point guard Greivis Vasquez ended a day of speculation Monday by pulling his name from the NBA draft, meaning he will keep playing college hoops through his senior year.

Vasquez, a 22-year-old native of Venezuela, is the latest Hispanic player to be eyed by the NBA, which in the past decade has stepped up its campaign to bring more Hispanic players -- and fans -- into the game.

Vasquez had until 5 p.m. Eastern Time Monday to make his decision, which he did after spending some one-on-one time with his coach, Gary Williams, The Baltimore Sun reported.

In the NBA, the number of Spanish, Hispanic or Latino players from outside the United States has grown to 17 from five since 2000. One player -- Eduardo Najera of the Denver Nuggets -- is from Mexico. The rest are from Argentina, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Spain.

There were also six U.S.-born Hispanic players this past season, which ended Sunday night with a Lakers championship victory.

Meanwhile, the Hispanic viewership of this year's NBA All-Star Game in February surged by 13 percent over last year, with 472,000 Hispanic households tuning in, according to Nielsen ratings.

This is due in part to the league's greater presence in Central and South America, where teams have been playing pre-season games since 1992, and to a program launched three years ago called Noche Latina, a kind of "Hispanic awareness month" for the NBA that occurs every March.

As for Vasquez, U.S. recruiters discovered him long before he became pro material. In high school, he moved from his native Caracas to Maryland to play at Montrose Christian School.

During his senior year at the high school, he agreed to play for the Maryland Terrapins, where he helped them land a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament as a freshman. (The team was eliminated in the second round.)

Last season, he led the Terps in scoring, rebounding and assists.

Though none of the 17 Hispanic players in the NBA this past season were from Venezuela, Vasquez is one of three Venezuelans playing for college teams. The others are David Cubillan of the Marquette Golden Eagles and Gregory Echenique of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.