Michigan football RB Karan Higdon will return for senior year

Michigan's leading rusher considered an early shot at the NFL draft.

But in the end, Karan Higdon says he'll be back at Michigan for his senior season.

Higdon, a 5-foot-10, 190-pounder from Sarasota, Fla., confirmed his decision to the Free Press on Wednesday via text message.

"After speaking with my family I have decided that I'm going to return for my senior year," Higdon wrote.

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After Michigan's Outback Bowl loss to South Carolina on Jan. 1, Higdon told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, his hometown paper, that he already had started gathering information on entering the draft early as a junior.

Instead, he's coming back to Michigan in hopes of building on what was a breaking 2017 season.

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Higdon finished six yards shy of becoming Michigan's first 1,000-yard running back since Fitzgerald Toussaint in 2011. He had 11 touchdowns on just 164 carries, and he didn't become Michigan's starting back until a 200-yard, three-touchdown performance against Indiana in mid-October.

His 6.1 yards per carry ranked third in the Big Ten among backs with at least 150 attempts, behind Ohio State's J.K. Dobbins and Wisconsin's Jonathan Taylor.

He also made eight receptions for 131 yards.

Higdon racked up 603 yards over a four-game span against the Hoosiers, Penn State, Rutgers and Minnesota.

He appeared well on his way to breaking the 1,000-yard mark before suffering an ankle injury during the first half at Maryland on Nov. 11.

Higdon's carries were limited over the final two weeks of the regular season. He finished with 17 carries for 65 yards (including a fumble) in the Outback Bowl loss to South Carolina.

"It was definitely a (learning experience) this season," Higdon said after the Outback Bowl. "We learned a lot about ourselves, a lot about our program, our coaches, our players. Going into next year, we've got to put it all together. We know where we were (flawed) at and know where we excelled.

"We've got to capitalize (on the good things) and fix the little things as well."

With Higdon back, Michigan should have one of the top 1-2 running back punches in the Big Ten, as he and rising junior Chris Evans combined to rush 1,679 yards and 18 touchdowns.

The duo averaged an impressive 5.6 yards per carry for the Wolverines.

Contact Nick Baumgardner: nbaumgardn@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickBaumgardner. Download our Wolverines Xtra app for free on Apple and Android devices!