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Senior Dijon Thompson will return to UCLA in the fall after removing himself from the NBA Draft.<

In the musty halls of West Los Angeles College, a familiar face sauntered in Saturday.

Clad in a white Jordan tank top and basketball shorts drooping below his knees, Dijon Thompson headed to the court to do battle against Salvatori’s Squad in the Nike Los Angeles Pro-City League.

Though Thompson’s team, Hank’s Team CTS, fell short 74-66, that this Bruin senior even is preparing for next season is a testament to his growing maturity.

Over the course of the last three months Thompson has trodden an uncertain path, ultimately concluding he should play out his final year of college eligibility. After dabbling his fingers at the Chicago Pre-Draft camp in June and receiving an evaluation on his draft status, Thompson came back to Westwood knowing his best bet would be to stay put.

“I’m happy coming back,” Thompson said. “I received positive feedback and advice on how to improve. It did nothing but help my game.”

Hank’s Team CTS coach Thaddeus McGrew seems to use one adjective to describe Thompson’s decision to play out his collegiate career – smart.

“The time will come for Dijon,” McGrew said. “He’s shown the effort to want to improve in the areas the NBA said he needed to. He has a stronger sense of the game and a deeper hunger.

“He wants to make it.”

Over the course of this summer, Thompson has spent countless hours improving on the very thing that should improve his stock come next June – his body.

The 6-foot-7, 195-pound swingman has made major steps toward building a bulkier physique.

“Don’t I look bigger?” said Thompson as he posed. “I’ve been hitting it hard.”

The newly sculpted Thompson definitely has added some volume and definition to his arms. In fact, hitting the gym everyday was what Thompson credited for his 0-for-4 shooting performance in the first half.

“I worked out yesterday,” Thompson said. “I’m lifting hard. I haven’t really focused on shooting. I’m trying to bulk up, and it’s taking a toll on my shooting.

“But I’ll put them together, and it’s going to come back. I promise you that.”

Thompson’s shot loosened up in the second half, as the senior hit 5-for-8 from the field en route to scoring 13 points for the game.

For the majority of the game Thompson was bodied by the likes of Onye Ebekwe and Shawn Hawkins from Long Beach State, both of whom outweigh Thompson by more than 25 pounds.

“Right now I’m playing big,” said Thompson, who finished with eight rebounds, three coming on the offensive end. “I have a lot of expectations put on me by coach (Ben) Howland to play the three and crash boards.”

As the summer league comes to a close and with Hank’s Team CTS eyeing to repeat its championship performance from a year ago, one integral member’s absence has been noticeable.

Unlike Thompson, former Bruin Trevor Ariza, a second round draft pick of the New York Knicks, decided to make a run at the NBA after only finishing one collegiate year at UCLA. Despite having a successful campaign as a freshman, averaging 11.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, Ariza opted to try to make it big as Thompson elected to stay put to finish his career at UCLA and graduate with a history degree.

McGrew never imagined the player’s decision would have unfolded as it had.

“I actually thought Dijon was going to go to the NBA and Trevor would be back,” McGrew said.

But, with Thompson deciding to take a different path than Ariza, McGrew has carped on Thompson for his needing to improve his consistency more than his body.

“He has the natural ability and the size,” McGrew said. “It all depends on if he can show that he’s consistent. If he does that, he can easily be one of the top players.”

“For him, people want to see the best guy he can be out there all the time.”

Besides hitting the gym and becoming more consistent, teams during the NBA Draft Camp advised Thompson to improve on his defense and add more arsenals to his offensive game.

The past three years have not been kind to Bruin fans who expected bigger and better things. During the stretch, Thompson and the Bruins have tallied a combined 42-48 record. But Thompson, who is a projected starter for the upcoming season, has improved his game each year, leading the Bruins in scoring for the last two seasons. This past season he averaged just over 14 points a game and was third in rebounding with more than four boards per contest.

With his senior year approaching, Thompson’s days at Redondo Union High School and his McDonald’s All-American status may seem like a distant memory. But for Thompson, those memories still stick.

“Seems like yesterday, just like yesterday,” Thompson said. “I remember when I was a freshman playing against Cincinnati. I’ve come a long way.”

Though the past three months definitely have had an impact on his future plans, the Redondo Beach native has no regrets about his decision.

Still, different decisions pan out differently for different people.

For Thompson, he’s hoping his decision plays out the way he envisions.