Here's a tough question: Which is more shocking, that wide receiver Aundrae Allison has shattered records in one season at East Carolina or that he's already considering leaving for the NFL?

Allison, who came to ECU this year from Georgia Military Academy, already has broken the university's single-season mark for receiving yards. Today against UAB, he could become the first East Carolina player to accumulate 1,000 yards receiving in a season.

But Allison, a junior who has 78 catches for 979 yards and seven touchdowns, also is thinking about his future in the NFL.

"I'm going to wait to talk to [head coach Skip Holtz and receivers coach Donnie Kirkpatrick] about it and see how everything goes with that," Allison said. "But I'm pretty much looking forward to coming back next year."

Allison's success and the Pirates' turnaround from last year's two-win season are hard to separate. The 6-foot, 185-pound receiver is the first ECU player to have five 100-yard receiving games in a season. He's also helped quarterback James Pinkney improve his completion percentage from 56.0 last year to 60.4 and raise his yards passing per game from 199.5 to 248.7.

"[Allison] has been a go-to guy. He's been able to catch the ball and make plays," Pinkney said.

"Just about every time he touches the ball, you don't know what could happen. He could break it for 80 yards or whatever. ... He makes things easier on me."

Allison ranks fourth in the nation in receptions per game and 13th in yards, but he said he's not surprised by his success.

"I really prepared for the season," he said. "Prior to coming to this level, I was in junior college. I was planning on coming to this level to showcase my God-given talents, and when I got the chance, I knew it would probably be easier with me having the supporting cast that I have."

Allison may sound a bit brash, but throughout the season he has piled compliments on his teammates.

Still, his impact is undeniable.

"He's provided a huge spark for us" Holtz said. "When we came in, we felt like one of the huge things we were lacking was just a big-play, go-to guy. Aundrae has come in and been everything we thought he was going go be. He has been invaluable to us."

NFL scouts do not make public comments about underclassmen who have not announced they are entering the draft, so assessing his NFL chances are difficult. But Allison said that if he returns, he'd like to mentor the Pirates' other receivers so they could play with the fire that he does. He also wants to improve his own game.

"I'm just going to get bigger and get stronger and just play more physical," he said. "Next year, I'd want to come back and just get the whole receiving corps to play with attitude. To play mean. I'd play a big part in that if I come back."