UCLA’s MacLean to Stay in School : College basketball: He will return to play a senior season, forgoing the NBA draft.

Don MacLean, who considered making himself available for the NBA draft this summer, announced Tuesday that he would remain at UCLA for his senior season.

A 6-foot-10 forward from Simi Valley who is on a pace to replace Arizona’s Sean Elliott as the Pacific 10 Conference’s leading scorer for a career, MacLean led UCLA last season with averages of 23 points and 7.3 rebounds a game.

He said in a statement released through the school’s sports information office that the ignominious end to the Bruins’ season played a major part in his decision.

Speaking of the Bruins’ 74-69 loss to Penn State last month in the first round of the NCAA tournament, MacLean said: “I was bitterly disappointed, as were my teammates, and that is not how I want my college career to end.”

But NBA scouts and even UCLA Coach Jim Harrick have wondered whether MacLean was ready to play in the NBA.

While praising his offensive ability, scouts have questioned less developed parts of his game and his combative, temperamental nature.

“He needs to improve, by leaps and bounds, defensively,” Roger Newell, a scout and consultant for nine NBA teams, said in February.

Newell also said that some scouts viewed MacLean as selfish, and added that it would be a “monumental mistake” for MacLean to forgo his senior season.

MacLean, a two-time all-conference pick, needs 379 points to replace the former Lew Alcindor--Kareem Abdul-Jabbar--as UCLA’s all-time leading scorer. MacLean’s three-season average of 20.5 points is second only to Alcindor’s 26.4.

He is one of five starters expected to return next season for the Bruins, who also expect to benefit from the availability of Ed O’Bannon, a 6-8 freshman forward from Lakewood who missed last season after undergoing reconstructive surgery on his left knee.

“I think UCLA (23-9 last season) is going to have an outstanding team next year, and I want to be a part of it,” MacLean said.