Skai Moore returning to South Carolina for senior season

Linebacker Skai Moore will return to South Carolina’s football team next season, he announced Thursday.

“After talking with my family about this big decision I feel it’s only right to go back to school and finish what I started!” Moore announced via Instagram. “I can’t wait to be in front of the best fans in the nation next year! Ready to give y’all all I got one more round! Y’all ready?!?!?!”

Moore, the Gamecocks’ leading tackler the last three seasons, was originally believed to be giving up his final season of eligibility to enter the 2016 NFL Draft.

Moore, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound Florida native, had 258 tackles in the last three seasons. His 110 stops in 2015 were the most by a South Carolina player since Jonathan Martin had 122 in 2002.

“I’m a bit surprised, but good for him,” Josh Norris, an NFL Draft analyst for rotoworld.com, said of Moore staying at USC. “Skai Moore is a fine linebacker prospect, but the position is loaded this year.”

Leonard Floyd of Georgia, Myles Jack of UCLA, Scooby Wright III or Arizona, Su’a Cravens of Southern Cal and Darron Lee of Ohio State are among the top linebackers leaving college early for April’s NFL Draft.

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Skai Moore returning to South Carolina for senior season."