"I am coming back," said the 6-8, 225-pounder. "I talked to my family and decided it was the best thing for me to come back for my junior year."
There were many things that led him to this decision after thinking about it long and hard.
"It was everything," said Augustus, who played in 25 games starting 9 during the just-completed season. "I love Mississippi State. We have great fans here who I love. And I have great coaches who prepare me well."
And most importantly was the team itself, a team he feels has a great deal of promise leading into next season.
"We have a chance to win another championship next year," said Augustus, who helped lead his team to an 23-13 record and a Southeastern Conference Tournament championship this past season. "We are going to have a great team next year because it will basically be the same team coming back."
And he and his teammates start what they hope to be a championship run first thing next week.
"We start weights next week and I'm going to start getting ready for next season," said Augustus, who averaged 6.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game this past season.
One thing he won't miss is the mini-media frenzy that started as soon as the past season ended.
"It's been crazy the last few weeks," said Augustus. "I'm glad it's over."
As are the Mississippi State fans.
Gene Swindoll is the publisher of the GenesPage.com website, the source for Mississippi State sports on Scout.com sports network. You can contact him by emailing swindoll@genespage.com.