For the second straight year, Rutgers guard Corey Sanders flirted with entering the NBA Draft. And for the second straight year, Sanders opted to return to Rutgers.

This is particularly big news because the Scarlet Knights showed a vast amount of improvement last season and ended with a good deal of momentum, winning two of its final three Big Ten games.

Sanders was a major part of last season’s resurgence under first-year head coach Steve Pikiell. He finished the season averaging a team-high 12.8 points per game to go along with 3.3 assists per game.

Sanders also has the ability to get to the basket and is tough to defend off the dribble. On a team that desperately needs players who can create their own shots, Sanders was easily the tops in that department.

On the strength of that sophomore campaign, Sanders spent the last couple of months preparing for the 2017 NBA Draft and that culminated with a workout with the Sacramento Kings on Monday.

Apparently, Sanders saw the writing on the wall.

He chose to put professional career will be put on hold, giving Rutgers has the chance to build on a 2016-17 campaign that showed a lot of promise.

Had Sanders not come back, it would have meant the team would have to replace its two top scorers from last season. Fellow guard Nigel Johnson transferred after the season, despite finishing second to Sanders with an average of 11.6 points per game.

Now that Sanders is back, it could translate into a lot of positives for RU hoops.

Our latest Scarlet Slant has more on what Sanders’ return means to Rutgers.