LaFell withdraws name from NFL Draft

Published 12:00 am Monday, January 26, 2009

BATON ROUGE — Three days after declaring for the NFL Draft, LSU wide receiver Brandon LaFell changed his mind and will return to school for his senior season of football, he announced on Sunday.

LaFell’s decision on Sunday came within the 72-hour window permitted by the NCAA that allows players to change their mind and return to school provided they don’t sign with an agent. By notifying the NFL of his decision on Sunday, LaFell can now return to the LSU football team.

“We are extremely excited to have Brandon returning to the LSU football team for his senior season,” head coach Les Miles said on Sunday. “We were going to support him no matter what decision he made. We tried to give Brandon as much information as we could to help him with this decision, but ultimately it was a decision that Brandon and his family had to make.

“The news of Brandon coming back to school is big for our football team. His contributions to our football program have been very significant and I’m glad we are going to get another year with him.”

In three years with the Tigers, LaFell established himself as one of the top pass catchers in school history. He has 118 career receptions for 1,725 yards and 18 touchdowns. LaFell will go into his senior season with a chance to finish among the school’s top 10 in all three receiving categories — receptions, yards, and touchdowns.

As a junior in 2008, LaFell put together one of the best seasons for a receiver in school history with 63 receptions for 929 yards and a league-leading eight touchdowns.