Doug McDermott will return to Creighton for his senior season.

McDermott explored the option of departing early for the NBA draft, but ultimately decided that returning to school was in his best interests.

Based on evaluations he received from the draft advisory committee, McDermott said, “There was no doubt in my mind that I would have been a first-round pick.''

McDermott's father, Creighton coach Greg McDermott, recommended his son go pro.

“He knew my dream is to play in the NBA, and he just felt that this was too good of an opportunity to pass up,'' Doug said. “But the way I look at it, if I can play in the NBA, I can play there the next year just as well as I can next year.

“I feel there are things I can work on. I feel I can still improve my draft stock by playing in the Big East. There are a lot of areas that I can get better at, and I just felt I'd be more comfortable doing it here in Omaha.''

Creighton has won the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with Doug McDermott winning Tournament MVP.

Creighton beat Wichita State 68-65 in the final.

Joining McDermott on the All-Tournament Team are Jackie Carmichael, Gregory Echenique, Malcolm Armstead and Carl Hall.

Creighton's Doug McDermott has been named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.

Joining McDermott on the First Team are Jackie Carmichael of Illinois State, Wichita State's Cleanthony Early, Jake Odum of Indiana State and Evansville's Colt Ryan.

Missouri State's Marcus Marshall won Freshman of the Year honors.

The thirty candidates for Naismith Men's College Player of the Year were announced on Tuesday.

Anthony Bennett, UNLV
Jared Berggren, Wisconsin
Trey Burke, Michigan 
Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse
Ian Clark, Belmont
Rotnei Clarke, Butler
Jack Cooley, Notre Dame
Allen Crabbe, California
Seth Curry, Duke
Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary's
Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State
Sean Kilpatrick, Cincinnati
Shane Larkin, Miami
Doug McDermott, Creigton
Rodney McGruder, Kansas State
Ben McLemore, Kansas
Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA
Mike Muscala, Bucknell
Victor Oladipo, Indiana
Kelly Olynyk, Gonzaga
Brandon Paul, Illinois
Mason Plumlee, Duke
Otto Porter, Georgetown
Marcus Smart, Oklahoma State
Russ Smith, Louisville
Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State
Jeff Withey, Kansas
Nate Wolters, South Dakota State
Cody Zeller, Indiana 

Mason Plumlee, Trey Burke and Doug McDermott are the leaders of ESPN's initial straw poll for 2013 Player of the Year.

Plumlee leads the poll of 63 voters with 126 points and 30 first-place votes, followed by Burke with 99 points and 13 first-place votes and McDermott with 97 points and 16 first-place votes. 

Cody Zeller is a distant fourth this season.

Cody Zeller is the player that college coaches would most want to have on their team for the 12-13 NCAA season. Zeller, who is set to begin his sophomore season at Indiana, received 35 percent of the vote.

Shabazz Muhammad received 12 percent of the vote as he begins his freshman season at UCLA.

Juniors Aaron Craft of Ohio State and Doug McDermott of Creighton each received nine percent.

Murray State's Isaiah Canaan and Kentucky's Nerlens Noel received sseven percent, and Trey Burke of Michigan received five percent.

Kendal Harris has committed to USC.

Harris is a 6-foot-5 point guard from Richardson Berkner in Texas.

“Coach KO, he seemed like he got a plan for me,” Harris said in a video announcement at Scout.com. “There's a wide-open spot at the point guard position. I can see myself doing big things, and they see myself doing big things also, so I like that.”

Harris visited USC while at the adidas Nations.

“It was nice,” Harris said in the video. “It was pretty much what I pictured. Nice weather, it's in LA, can't really go wrong with that. Campus was real nice. I loved it.”

Harris chose USC over Missouri, Oklahoma State, LSU and Creighton.