http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08117/876754-175.stm

The basketball court inside the Petersen Events Center yesterday was being transformed into the setting for tomorrow's graduation ceremonies. About 6,000 Pitt students will end their days at Pitt this weekend, but Sam Young, the best basketball player on campus, won't be one of them.

Young, a junior forward who averaged a team-high 18.1 points per game last season, announced yesterday he will return for his senior season and will not enter his name in the NBA draft.

"After the season I considered it a little bit," said Young, a first-team all-Big East selection. "After talking it over with my mother, it was only one more year. I decided to come back and get my degree. In talking it over with my parents, talking to coach, I decided this year would be a great opportunity to work on my game, to leave school mature."

Young, rated the No. 41 prospect according to NBA draft rankings on ESPN.com, was not all that interested in going through the predraft process for scouts.

"There's always temptation, but at the same time I felt like if I wasn't going to fully commit, why commit at all, especially at a time when it's finals week," Young said.

Young said he might have considered putting his name in the draft if he had been rated higher in the rankings. Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said he was the one who was pushing Young to evaluate his standing with the NBA.

"Anytime when you're the Big East [tournament] MVP and are first-team all-league, these kinds of questions are going to be asked," Dixon said. "He's put himself in a position to be asked these questions. I really think he handled it well. I was actually making sure he looked into it. When you accomplish the things he did this year you have to look into it. That's the approach we took. I was probably bringing it up more to him than he was to me."

Young, a power forward for the majority of his Pitt career, will play small forward or shooting guard if he makes it in the NBA someday. Young said yesterday he will work on his shooting and ballhandling over the summer to make him a better prospect.

With Young back in the fold, the Panthers have three starters returning next season, will be one of the favorites to win the Big East championship and are being mentioned as a national championship contender.

"I'm very excited," Young said. "I'm excited about the preseason rankings, about the team we have coming back. I'm very confident in our players. We're very experienced. I feel like we're going to come back next year and blow the roof off the place. I can't wait."

NOTE -- Mike Cook, who had a season-ending knee injury in December, is working with Pitt's compliance office on his request for a sixth season of eligibility. The NCAA decides whether players receive a sixth season. Dixon remains hopeful that Cook will be granted another year. "There seems to be more of a trend to look out for the best interests of the student-athletes," he said. "It's becoming a little more common."