Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Arkansas guard BJ Young announced his return to the Razorbacks for his sophomore season Monday night at the team’s postseason awards banquet.

Young, a 6-foot-3 freshman said he was “coming back for another year too” after receiving the team’s Most Outstanding Player award and being recognized for his All-Southeastern Conference freshman first team and All-SEC second team accolades.

Young led Arkansas in scoring his freshman year, averaging 15.3 points per game for the 18-14 Hogs. He shot better than 50 percent and led all freshmen in the SEC in scoring.

“I kind of had it this morning in my head and I told my parents what I wanted to do,” Young said about his decision. “My family supported me so I felt good about it.”

“I told my parents I enjoyed school a lot and am not ready to grow up yet,” Young added. “I said I still want to be a kid and they understood where I was coming from and they supported me. I enjoyed school so much and if I didn’t like it I would have looked forward to going to the NBA. I like college basketball.”

Young announced through a UA press release March 30 that he was considering the NBA Draft. The St. Louis, Mo., native did not hire an agent, allowing for his return to the Hogs.

“He and I had a chance to visit a little bit and obviously it was his decision,” Arkansas Coach Mike Anderson said. “I think it couldn’t be any more appropriate that once he came to that conclusion, he had an opportunity here tonight where we had our appreciation banquet in front of Razorback fans to say what he wanted to do.”

Young tweeted “man in so confused right now” about 2:15 p.m. on Monday. He later said his was referring to his decision of whether to return or go pro.

“Yeah I was a little confused earlier today,” Young said. “You get a lot of outside and inside feedback from people just telling you what to do, so it made the process more confusing and complicated.”

Young was projected as a late first round to early second round pick according to ESPN.com. He was a threat to score, but his overall strength and defensive ability were seen as liabilities after just one year in college.

“BJ has got to work on his overall game,” Anderson said. “He just has to mature as a player. Has to get stronger, obviously he scored, but when the game gets physical he has to be able to withstand that. He also has to get better defensively, so there is a lot he has got to work on. Not only him, but our whole team.”

With Young’s return, Arkansas is expected to have its top three scorers from last season in 2012-13, including seven scholarship players.