Linebacker will stay for senior season

Junior linebacker Stephen Nicholas is taking a page from his best friend, running back Andre Hall.

Nicholas, like Hall before him, declined to enter the NFL draft in his junior year, opting instead to spend another year playing for the Bulls.

College football juniors who want to forego their senior season must announce their plans to stay with the team or enter the draft by Jan. 15.

Nicholas sent in film for an NFL advisory council to review and give him a rough estimate of when he would be drafted during the April weekend. According to the advisory council, he was estimated to go in the late fourth or early fifth round.

Nicholas was third on the team in tackles this year with 79 and also had seven sacks and two forced fumbles.

– Mike Camunas