I’m not saying everyone was expecting the worst with regards to Gray. I’m just saying there seems to be a real surprised tone to the stories reporting that Pitt will have Gray back for his senior year.

Because of Gray’s return, the Panthers will have high expectations entering the 2006-07 season. With three other starters returning, the Panthers likely will be a preseason Top-10 team and the favorite to claim the Big East championship.

Many of the top teams in the Big East had their rosters depleted because of early entrants into the NBA draft. Connecticut lost forward Rudy Gay, point guard Marcus Williams and center Josh Boone and Villanova lost point guard Calvin Lowry.

Gray will be a Big East player of the year candidate after earning most improved player in the Big East last season after averaging 13.9 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in his first season as a starter.

“We’ve had success. He had a chance to finish with the guys he came in with,” Dixon said. “It’s the closest group I’ve ever been around. He enjoys college. If he didn’t play basketball, he would be going to college anyway. That made him unique than some other kids who have put their names in the draft from other programs over the years.”

UConn also lost Denham Brown, Hilton Armstrong and Rashard Anderson to graduation. Randy Foye is also leaving ‘Nova. The entire starting line-up for WVU is almost entirely graduating.

Coach Jamie Dixon, as he tends to do, did not try to take any credit for helping Gray too much — even as the facts showed otherwise.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon likened the past few days to cramming for a final examination. Dixon was working the phones Saturday and yesterday morning trying to get the most up-to-date information concerning Aaron Gray’s NBA draft status.

In the end, Dixon looked fatigued but happy last night after Gray decided to return for his senior season with the Panthers.

“I didn’t give him too much advice, really,” Dixon said last night at the Petersen Events Center. “I gave him feedback. That was my job. I made it very clear to him that we would like him back. He knew where I was coming from.”

And yet he was there the whole time.

“Aaron and I spent a lot of time together during the past two days,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. “We stuck to the plan, even though there were some people who were anxious. I anticipated this was going to go down to the wire, and it did.”

As late as yesterday, Dixon was receiving calls from NBA personnel, many of whom indicated Gray would have been a first-round selection when the draft is held June 28 in New York.

But Gray, who became a starter for Pitt just last season and was the lone Big East Conference player to average a double-double (13.9 points per game, 10.5 rebounds), remained loyal to the Panthers. He informed Dixon and his teammates of his decision just before the 5 p.m. deadline for early entry withdrawal.

The big thing seemed to be the lack of an absolute guarantee from some of the teams that seemed most interested in him (and/or perhaps the risk that Portland would take him at #30). The NBA people would have loved to have kept Gray in the draft, just to increase the overall talent pool. A legit argument or scenario could be made for each team picking from Indiana at #17 to the end of the first round (expcept for the Lakers), to take Gray. Yet no one could pull that final trigger to lock on him, thankfully.

The consensus is that Gray and his family were really unsure the entire time whether to stay or go. Now there is a legitimate belief that this squad can go far this season.

“This is something that will energize us as a team. It certainly has me excited,” said Kendall, a senior forward for the Panthers. “Aaron is a good friend of mine, and I’ve talked to him about this from time to time. Every time I did, I got the feeling it was pretty much up in the air. I have to tell you that I really had no idea what he was going to do. I think he was feeling the same way.”
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“It’s huge that he’s coming back,” Kendall said. “This gives us an even better option to go large or go small. We’ve got a lot of combinations we can go with. Now, we’ve got to take the next step. I think we’re going to be a real dangerous team. We should be pushing for the Final Four.”

Barring injuries, of course (knock on wood).

Gray, apparently, will be speaking directly with the media some time today.