Harrison Barnes announces return to UNC basketball

On Saturday, Dexter Strickland decided enough was enough.

“If you want to hear Harrison (Barnes’) decision, call 1-800-PLEASE DON’T ASK ME!,” he Tweeted.

No longer will Strickland or the rest of the North Carolina basketball team be bothered with questions on Barnes’ decision after the freshman announced Monday morning he will return for his sophomore season.

With his return, North Carolina will return all five of its starters from this year’s 29-8 season. Draft prospects John Henson and Tyler Zeller announced April 6 they’d come back.

“As a team, we’re preparing for a special season,” Barnes said in his statement. “My off-season plans are to diligently work on honing my basketball skills in all arenas with one team goal in mind — to bring the 2012 national championship home to UNC.”

North Carolina is the only team that finished in the top 10 in the final coaches’ poll that returns all five of its starters. Barnes and Zeller led UNC in scoring with 15.7 points per game while Barnes posted an average of 21 points in his first NCAA tournament.

The preseason All-American faced plenty of criticism early in the year when he wasn’t living up to the hype he received. As the season rolled along, Barnes became UNC’s go-to guy in late-game situations. At the end of the regular season though, he began putting together full games and the Tar Heels won 12 of their final 14 games.

Because of how long he waited, Barnes was able to get a better idea of where he would be selected in June’s NBA draft. He was projected to be a top-five pick, but just how high depended partially upon who else would leave early.

Arizona forward Derrick Williams, Duke guard Kyrie Irving and Connecticut guard Kemba Walker all announced their decisions to forgo the rest of their collegiate eligibility and enter the draft earlier in the month. Each player is expected to be selected as a lottery pick.

Barnes has certainly taken his time with this decision. The ACC Rookie of the Year said immediately after UNC’s Elite Eight loss to Kentucky that he was “not thinking about the NBA.”

Three days later, his mother, Shirley Barnes, told The Daily Tar Heel that her son had goals he wanted to fulfill. When asked when he would make his decision, she jokingly said the family would have an answer by April 24 — the deadline for early entries into the draft.

Just Saturday, he told ESPN during the Jordan Brand Classic that he “hadn’t made a decision yet” but that he would “decide sometime soon.”

“Opportunities, both beneficial and life changing, can seem to make the next phase of my journey an easy decision,” Barnes said in his statement.

“But I am a student-athlete at the University of North Carolina. I’m here to experience college life, grow as a person, receive a quality education and be part of the greatest basketball family in college sports.”

That family has produced five national championships, including two since 2005. The return of all five starters makes UNC a favorite to win next year’s title.

“I am of course excited to have Harrison back on our team next year,” Williams said in a statement. “It has been a true pleasure to coach him, and I look forward to coaching him again next season. He had a difficult decision to make.

“He really had no wrong decision to choose, but I believe he is coming back to school because he enjoys college basketball, he enjoys the University of North Carolina and he enjoys his teammates.”

Contact the Sports Editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.