Pittsburgh Basketball: Ashton Gibbs to Return for Senior Season

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that Pitt's leading scorer Ashton Gibbs will return for his senior season.

Gibbs recently declared for the NBA Draft but did not hire an agent leaving a possibility for him to pull his name out and return to Pittsburgh.

Gibbs averaged 16.8 points, 2.8 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game last season. He is one of the better three-point shooters (49 percent) in the country He was named first team all-Big East a year ago.

He has been one of those prototypical Jamie Dixon players who get better year after year. He averaged 4.3 points as a freshman, 15.7 as a sophomore and 16.8 points as a senior.

The general consensus was that he would return for his senior year because he has parts of his game to improve upon.

For instance, he isn't a great driver, creator for others and he struggles to generate his own shots. He needs to use screens in order to use his ability to shoot the ball. These are all areas where Gibbs will look to improve for the 2011-2012 campaign.

The starting lineup next year will feature Travon Woodall at point guard, Ashton Gibbs as shooting guard, Nasir Robinson at power forward, Dante Taylor at power forward/center and one more remaining spot to be determined. The likely candidates will be sophomore Talib Zanna or freshman Khem Birch.

Gibbs’ return makes the Panthers a much better team for next season. They will be contending for the Big East regular season championship like usual.

Ultimately, this is the best decision for Ashton Gibbs.