Jerry Tipton on UK basketball

Forward Tyler Smith considered entering this year’s NBA draft. But he announced on Thursday that he would return to Tennessee for another season.

Here’s the start of a report by The Associated Press:

The 21-year-old, 6-7 sophomore from Pulaski said his college experience has been “everything it is supposed to be” and that he’s wanted to play in the NBA “for as long as I can remember.”
<*J>But after weighing his options with his mom and coach Bruce Pearl, he’d made up his mind.
<*J>“I have come to the conclusion that I want to be a Volunteer next year,” he said Thursday, just seconds into a news conference on his future.
<*J>Smith, who averaged 13.5 points a game and led the 31-win Volunteers in rebounds and assists last season, is coming back for his junior year.
<*J>With at least 38 underclassmen declaring for the NBA draft in June, remaining in school rather than leaving may be bigger news. It certainly is for Pearl, who said, “I believe with all my heart he made the right decision.”