Carroll decides to pass on draft

After testing the NBA prospect waters for nearly a month, Utah State guard Jaycee Carroll — as expected — withdrew his name from the NBA Draft on Friday.

"I have decided to return to Utah State for my senior season," Carroll said.

Carroll, who led the Western Athletic Conference in scoring last year at 21.3 points per game, worked out for the Utah Jazz last week and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks also showed interest but not enough for Carroll to pursue a professional career at this time.

"Coming back to school will give me the opportunity to continue to develop as a player and enhance my draft status for the next year," he said.

Along with leading the WAC in scoring, he was first in free-throw shooting at 88.8 percent and 3-point field-goal percentage at 52.7 percent.

"This experience has been both positive and informative for Jaycee," Utah State coach Stew Morrill said, "He will now be better prepared for his future basketball opportunities and at this point be able to concentrate on our upcoming season."

The Aggies won 20-plus games for the eighth straight season, going 23-12 en route to receiving a bid to the National Invitation Tournament. Carroll, who has played in the postseason in all three years at Utah State, is looking to make it four.

"I also want to finish my degree and help Utah State contend for a Western Athletic Conference championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament," he said.

In their inaugural season in the WAC two years ago, the Aggies finished second in the regular season and in the conference tournament, earning an at-large bid to the tournament for the first time in 23 seasons.

The Aggies finished second to New Mexico State in the conference tournament.

"Jaycee returning for his senior year has been a strong possibility throughout this process and we are very pleased that he has reached this decision," Morrill said.

Carroll needs just 391 points to pass Greg Grant (2,127) to become Utah State's all-time leading scorer. If he maintains a 21.3 average he should reach that mark in Game 18 of the 2007-08 season.

VERBAL COMMITMENT: Canyon Springs (Nevada) High senior-to-be Deremy Geiger has committed to play basketball at Utah State for the 2008-09 season.

In leading his team to a 32-3 record and a berth in to the state semifinals last year, Geiger, a 5-foot-10, 160-pound guard, averaged 15.6 points, four assists and two steals.

"I think it's a great program and I was looking for a place where I can go in and have an immediate impact," said Geiger, who was in the house for the Aggies' season-finale loss to Fresno State last year.

"It's a big relief off my shoulders that I have already taken care of (my decision)," he said. "I am still going to go out there and play hard every night because I want to win a state championship."

He was also recruited by Portland and Northern Arizona.

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E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com