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Patric Young will return for senior season at Florida

And if Jeff Goodman reports something about Florida, believe it.

By Andy Hutchins
Stephen Dunn

Updated 1:12 p.m.: Florida's official men's basketball Twitter account has now confirmed that Young will return for his senior season.

In that story, Young gives this quote:

"I have the chance to finish my degree and play another season for Coach Donovan with great teammates and friends at a place I love," Young said. "These first three years have gone by in a flash, and I can’t believe it is my senior year already. I have gotten better as a player and better as a man at the University of Florida. I believe God has my future in his hands, so all I am worried about now is getting better this summer and making it the hardest I have trained in my life."

Billy Donovan adds this statement.

"We’re excited that Patric will continue with us for his senior season," head coach Billy Donovan said. "This was Patric’s decision to make, and he ultimately had to do what he felt was best for himself and his future."

Original story follows.

Florida center Patric Young will pass up the 2013 NBA Draft and return to Florida for his senior season, CBS Sports' Jeff Goodman reports.

I've had fun with Goodman on Twitter over his antipathy for Kenny Boynton's shooting (though Boynton, prompted, wrote the immortal "Jeff Goodman a joke" tweet; I just turned it into a hashtag), but he's a rock-solid source when it comes to Florida basketball, owing in part to his personal closeness to forward Erik Murphy, which helped him tell the fullest story on Murphy last fall. So if Goodman's reporting Patric Young's coming back, then I believe Patric Young's coming back.

Young, for his part, is remaining mostly coy:

But it's been widely believed among Florida fans that Young would come back for his final year at Florida, and tweets about catching up on classwork...

...would be somewhat unusual from someone already in training for the NBA Draft, no?

Young would be one of just two returning starters for the Gators in 2013-14, joining Scottie Wilbekin, but he would have more help underneath than he has had as a starter to this point, with transfer Damontre Harris becoming eligible and freshman Chris Walker coming in. And Kasey Hill's arrival as the purest point guard on Florida's roster might help Young get more and better touches around the basket.

Young averaged 10.1 points per game and led the Gators with 6.3 rebounds per game in 2012-13, but was often criticized for his lack of development as a low post threat. With more help and a greater share of the responsibility on a team that is likely to look for him more often, Young could be poised to answer his critics in 2013-14.