Senior forward Shaun Pruitt said Monday that he thought about exiting the draft a few days earlier than the Sunday night deadline, but stayed in when the Chicago Bulls scheduled a workout at the last minute.

“I think it was a good decision,” Pruitt said Monday afternoon at the Ubben Basketball Complex. “By staying in I got to show my skills to a couple more teams, and get myself on their radar for next year.”

Pruitt, who was the only Illini to start every game of the 2006-07 season, declared himself draft-eligible in April. Even then, he wasn’t very convincing when talking about an early exit from Illinois, focusing more on how his game would improve than on his prospects in the professional ranks. But on Monday he admitted that a stronger vote of confidence from scouts might have kept him in the draft.

“If I thought I’d had a guarantee or a promise that I’d be drafted in the second round, I’m not going to lie to you, I might have taken it,” Pruitt said. “That’s just the type of person I am, I think I can work hard and make the team.”

Pruitt said talking to NBA organizations helped him set his goals for next season. He says he hopes to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors as a senior, and to challenge Drew Neitzel and D.J. White for Player of the Year honors. As a team, though, he says he wants to see the Illini reclaim the Big Ten championship.

“If we do that, it would definitely give me an edge over the rest of those guys,” Pruitt said. “If we could win the championship and go further than the first round of the NCAA tournament, I’ve only played in a handful of tournament games, and I definitely want to have a better tournament than we have in the past few years.”