The high fade mohawk is gone, replaced by a short uniform cut, but the smile that Cyclone fans have grown to love on the hardwood was the same, delivering the good news that fans had been hoping for.

ISU basketball’s leading scorer and rebounder, and All-Big 12 First Team power forward Craig Brackins announced Friday that he would return to Ames for at least one more season in cardinal and gold.

After being highly touted as a first round NBA draft pick for months, Brackins decided to wait on the millions of dollars that sit at the professional level, and provide Cyclone fans another opportunity to see him wreak havoc on the Big 12 conference and hopefully bring some wins to a program that has seen a decline in that category.

“I just put myself in different situations, thought about everything, every which way that could be, positives, negatives, and I just felt that there was just this empty feeling inside me, that I felt that I had to accomplish,” Brackins said. “There are a couple more things that I want to do here, and I feel that next year with the players that we have and the players that are returning, we’re gonna do some things. I felt I couldn’t leave that.”

Bringing back 20 points and 10 rebounds per game with be important for a young Cyclone team, that looked like it was finally gathering around a leader in the 21-year-old sophomore. He talked about the empty feeling he had leaving the Cyclones after a bad season and defeat to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament, saying he still has room to grow. With his coach Greg McDermott by his side, he said he felt confident about returning for another season.

“This is a big day for our program, because as Craig mentioned, we haven’t exactly had a lot of things go our way in the three years we’ve been here,” McDermott said. “For him to make a commitment to this program for one more year, it’s a huge decision, and I’ve been really impressed with how he’s navigated his way through all the information.”

McDermott and Brackins each laid out plans and goals for the 2009-2010 season, beginning with adding a few victories to the total, and addressing the individual parts of his game. Scouts and draft analysis online all had Brackins as a late lottery to middle first round pick, even though his strength and consistent jump shot were issues.

“There’s plenty of room for growth, and I think that’s what’s exciting, you’re not looking at a finished product sitting next to me, there’s a lot of room for Craig Brackins to grow, and I hope we’re sitting in this room next year celebrating someone that is going to be a lottery pick a year from now,” McDermott said.

Listing things like improved defense, better ball-handling, more bulk on his frame, and proving NBA scouts wrong for their rating of his weaknesses, the coach and his star were both glad to be returning for another year on the floor together, and feel like success should follow the work they have put in to develop the Iowa State program.

“I thought of just what I was leaving behind, the players, the coaching stuff, there are so many bumps in the road the last few years that I was here,” Brackins said.

“A lot of things didn’t go our way, and I feel that a lot of those pieces that we were trying to put together are now together, and it’s time to do something.”

Worrying about defenses keying in on the forward will be concerns come next winter, but for now, many people will question how Craig Brackins could stay another year with the possibility of millions of dollars waiting in two months, and professional notoriety to come with that.

“Talking to Coach Mac, he was telling me about the business aspect of the NBA, and if I’m ready for that, and just the other stresses that aren’t just money and playing,” Brackins said. “There’s a lot more than that, and if I was ready for that, and that probably was a big picture in my head in deciding if I was, and I didn’t feel that I was.”

Big 12 foes might beg to differ on that point, with the Palmdale, California native averaging over 21 points per game in conference play, and scoring at least 19 points in every one of his last nine games. With the exception of Kansas returning their star players Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich, most Big 12 squads will be going through rebuilding, with Oklahoma losing four starters, Missouri losing its top two scorers, Texas losing leading scorer A.J. Abrams, and even division opponent Nebraska loses transferring guard Cookie Miller.

“Postseason, winning with my teams, just the whole being here another year with them, it’s been a great two years, and I don’t want to lose that,” Brackins said. “I don’t want to have that feeling, if I left, then what would have happened that last year, I just don’t want to have any doubts, and I felt that being here was that feeling that I’m missing.”

McDermott was more than happy to have his team leader back for another season, with the two loosening up near the end of the press conference, and Brackins even introduced himself jokingly to the media, coaches, and athletic department officials as the new wrestling coach.

“I think one more year will help me a lot, just getting ready, my mindset with everything, one more year to mature,” Brackins said.

“It was one of those decisions where I just sat there and thought about it, and stuck with it, and felt that it was the right decision.”

After this announcement, Cyclone fans would probably agree.