Archie to return for senior season

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina men's basketball player Dominique Archie announced on Thursday that he has withdrawn his name from the 2009 National Basketball Association's draft pool and will return to school for his senior season in 2009-10.

Archie, a rising senior for the Gamecocks, averaged 10.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks per game during the 2008-09 campaign. For his efforts, Archie was named to the All-SEC Second Team and the All-Defensive Team by the league's coaches and was also named to the Associated Press All-SEC Honorable Mention squad. Through his first three seasons as a Gamecock, Archie is just 59 points shy of 1,000 points for his career (941 points, 10.1 ppg), while he has collected 531 career rebounds (5.7 rpg). Archie has started all 93 games during his time at Carolina.

"We're very glad that Dominique was able to go through the process of working out with teams and gaining the feedback from NBA personnel," South Carolina head men's basketball coach Darrin Horn said. "We look forward to having him back as a Gamecock for one more season."

"Going into the process I fully expected to come back to school, but it was good for me to get insight and feedback throughout the workouts," Archie said. "I'm very excited about my senior season and the direction that our team is headed."