Shurna is coming back

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern junior forward John Shurna has announced that he has withdrawn his name from consideration for the 2011 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft and will return to the Wildcats for his senior season.

"This was a great opportunity for me to receive feedback on the areas of my game that I need to improve upon," Shurna said. "In the end, it's in my best interest to return to Northwestern for my senior year. I'm excited to continue playing with my teammates and work with our coaching staff as we strive to achieve our goals."

"We're obviously excited to have John return for his senior season," Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody said. "We would have supported him no matter what decision he made. He received a lot of positive feedback from the NBA programs and the whole process was a good experience for him."

A third-team All-Big Ten selection of the media his junior year, Shurna led the Wildcats with an average of 16.6 points per game to go along with a norm of 4.9 rebounds per contest. He averaged 23.3 points per game over Northwestern's first 10 contests before suffering an ankle injury that limited him over the remainder of the season. Shurna's was one of the nation's top 3-point shooters in 2010-11 and finished with a .434 percentage from beyond the arc.

Shurna's 1,150 points over the last two seasons are the second most in consecutive campaigns in school history. He tallied a Northwestern single-season record 619 points as a sophomore while earning second-team All-Big Ten recognition. Along the way, he was named the nation's Most Improved Player by Sporting News. Shurna currently ranks 10th on NU's career scoring list with 1,377 points.

Northwestern is slated to return four starters from last year's team that tied a school record with 20 wins and advanced to the postseason for the third consecutive year.