Arkansas wide receiver Marcus Monk insists he has no regrets.

After emerging as one of the nation's top deep threats as a junior, Monk returned for one more year of school even after hearing he could have been taken as early as the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft.

"It was tempting," Monk said. "You want to take care of your family and everything. But my mom wanted me to finish school. I felt if I came back, I could (improve) my chances.''

Monk came through on the first account; he needed only 3½ years to earn his marketing degree. But he wasn't quite as successful in the second measure. A preseason knee injury limited Monk to seven games and hurt his draft stock.

"I thought going into the year he was a top-100 kid," said Frank Coyle of draftinsiders.com. "I really question that now.''

Monk will spend the next week trying to answer questions and improve his stock. He will enter the NFL Scouting Combine attempting to prove his right knee has made a complete recovery from the preseason injury that required two surgeries.

Whatever ends up happening in the next two months, Monk says he won't have any second thoughts about his decision to return to school.

"I never ask why," Monk said last week while taking a break from his Combine preparations at D1 Sports Training center in suburban Nashville. "The thing with the injury – it's not good that it happened, but it's something I needed to go through. I never really had to deal with anything. It had been pretty much smooth.

"(The injury) taught me a lot. If you handle adversity, you get stronger."

In that case, Monk should feel stronger than ever.

He hurt the knee while getting hit after making a catch across the middle in an Aug. 9 practice. Monk had arthroscopic surgery four days later, then had a second arthroscopic procedure Aug. 28. Monk didn't play his first game until midway through the season.

Monk sat out narrow losses to Alabama and Kentucky and was on the field for only one play of a 9-7 setback against Auburn. Monk and his teammates could only wonder how the Razorbacks' season might have changed if he had been at full strength all season.

"We obviously lost a lot of close games this past year," Arkansas linebacker Weston Dacus said. "With his help, we definitely could have pulled those off. He's good for at least six or seven catches a game and maybe a touchdown."

Because he wasn't at full strength, Monk never came close to matching those numbers. He finished the season with 16 catches for 144 yards and three touchdowns after compiling 50 receptions for 962 yards and 11 scores in '06.

Monk still left Arkansas as the school's career leader with 27 touchdown catches, a total that ranks seventh in Southeastern Conference history. NFL scouts are more concerned with what kind of numbers Monk can deliver at the Combine.

"For him to be a top-100 guy, he's got to get a clean bill of health and he's got to run (the 40-yard dash) in the high 4.4's or low 4.5's," Coyle said. "I'm not sure he can do that. He's probably beyond the top 100."

Monk believes he's healthy again. He said he started feeling more comfortable in the practices leading up to the Razorbacks' 38-7 Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri. Monk now says he's feeling as good as ever, and he is squatting more weight than he did before the injury.

"I feel a lot better," Monk said. "My legs have gotten a lot stronger. The time off has given me more time to concentrate on my legs. It's helped a lot."

Some former teammates agree. Dacus and former Arkansas fullback Peyton Hillis have worked alongside him at D1 and say he's starting to resemble the Monk of old.

"His strength is back," Dacus said. "He squatted 415 for a rep, and he seems to be running well with no limp. I think he's going to be ready for the Combine. He's getting back to what looks like 100 percent. He might even be stronger now than he was before because he's been able to focus exclusively on that knee."

Hillis echoed those remarks. "If he's not 100 percent," he said, "then he's very close."

Monk's teammates have faith in his ability to have a long pro career, no matter when he gets drafted. They've seen him catch too many passes to believe otherwise.

His touchdown totals indicate he has the talent to succeed in the NFL. And his finance degree shows he has the intelligence.

"He's a competitive guy and a smart, intelligent guy," Hillis said. "If he ever gets a chance and an opportunity, I think he'll play for a long time."

Monk's performance at the Combine could determine how much of a chance he receives.