This article was originally written by Danny Payne and appeared in The Daily Iowan on December 28, 2015 and was updated January 4, 2016.  It has been republished with the author’s permission.

Sometimes the news is no news. That’s the case when it comes to Iowa cornerback Desmond King, who said Monday he is still undecided whether he will enter the NFL draft or stay for his senior season in the drafts of Iowa City.

King, who won the Thorpe Award this month, given to the nation’s top defensive back, is still considering a variety of factors, he said. He could forgo his senior year and take his paycheck one year early, or he could hone his craft for one more year in a Hawkeye uniform.

“It’s pretty much kind of 50-50 right now,” King said. “I’m thinking about staying, there’s a good chance, but right now I honestly don’t know — it goes back and forth.”

King is focusing first and foremost on the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl, which he said would be the last check mark of his junior year showing the NFL he’s ready to play now. The Detroit East English Village product said he’s still waiting on his evaluation from the NFL Advisory Board.

King said he’s primarily leaning on his mother for support in deciding. The corner said she wants him to stay in college and finish his degree (he’d be the first family member on his mother’s side to graduate) but at the same time, she wants him to do what’s best for him.

Is that a guaranteed payday and beginning to his professional career? Is it a degree in mass communication from the University of Iowa? We won’t know until after the Rose Bowl, when King said he’ll make a decision. When, after the Rose Bowl, we’ll have to wait.

“Everybody has their own life, and I can give him my opinion if that’s what he wants, and I’ve talked to him a couple different times on a couple different occasions about ‘Hey, this is what I know,’ ” defensive coordinator Phil Parker said. “I think he has to make the right decision for himself, and I’m glad he hasn’t made that a priority right now. The biggest thing is he wants to play well in the Rose Bowl, and he wants to go out and win it. I think that’s what he’s been focused on.”

Update:  Iowa defensive back Desmond King will come back for his senior year at Iowa.

Iowa award-winning cornerback Desmond King will return for his senior season. After weeks of speculation, King’s mother, Yvette Powell, told The Daily Iowan Monday night that the Thorpe-Award winner will return for his senior season.

King, a consensus All-American, recorded 8 interceptions for the Hawkeyes this past season, tying the Hawkeye single-season record. That number also tied for second in the nation, first in the Big Ten.

“We have unfinished business,” Powell said Monday. “… He didn’t want to leave C.J. [Beathard] like that. We talked to C.J., and he was happy. I told him it’s time for you guys to lead your team and to see them on graduation day.

“That’s a beautiful thing. They want to stick together; that’s what it’s all about.”

Powell said King, who was not available for a phone interview, came to her after the Jan. 1 Rose Bowl loss and said he wanted to finish his career at Iowa with a bowl win. Powell said King told head coach Kirk Ferentz and defensive coordinator Phil Parker on Jan. 4.

“He said he wants to go out in a good way and not in the way where he came from a loss,” Powell said. “He wants to win … He came to me and said everything I was hoping.

“… Everybody’s surprised. It’s not about the money all the time. The money is going to be there. He has more chance to make more with a degree.”