WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina State University

Costner, Ferguson will not return to NCSU

Mar 24, 2009

Redshirt juniors Brandon Costner and Trevor Ferguson will forgo their final year of eligibility and not return to the N.C. State men's basketball team in 2009-10.

Costner will earn a degree in communications in May, while Ferguson plans to earn a degree in science, technology and society in the summer, the school announced.

“Brandon has enjoyed a great career at N.C. State and now is going to prepare himself to go through the NBA draft process,” head coach Sidney Lowe said in a statement. “Trevor feels like it was his time to move on, and we will continue to help him in his pursuit of his degree.”

Monday’s announcement continues a series of blows for the Wolfpack program. State finished 16-14 this season and 6-10 in ACC play. State did not make the NCAA or NIT and has missed NCAA play in all three of Lowe’s seasons.

State loses seniors Courntney Fells and Ben McCauley from this year’s team, but does have a highly regarded recruiting class coming in. State is bringing in two top prospects in shooting guard Lorenzo Brown and forward Richard Howell and will also add guard Scott Wood and forward Josh Davis of Raleigh’s Athens Drive. PackPride.com reported the Davis commitment Monday, and he is rated a two-star recruit.

Still, Costner was one of State’s most talented players, even if the enigmatic Costner never seemed to harness his potential.

He played in 110 career games with 84 starts averaging 12.6 points and 5.9 rebounds during his career. This season, he became the 41st player in school history to score 1,000 career points, and he ends his career with 1,273 (27th most in NCSU history). In 2008-09, Costner led the Pack in scoring (13.6) and was second in both rebounding (6.1) and in assists (71).

Costner was named to the ACC All-Freshman team and was also a third-team All-ACC selection as a redshirt freshman in 2006-07. He was just the seventh freshman in ACC history to lead his team in both scoring (16.8) and rebounding (7.3) his rookie season.

“I really want to thank the coaches, the fans and everybody at N.C. State for the time I have spent here,” Costner said in a statement. “So many people have helped me while I was a member of the Wolfpack, I just feel like it is time to move on and pursue my dreams of playing professionally.”

Ferguson transferred to State after signing a letter of intent with Pittsburgh and sat out the 2005-06 season. He played in 52 career games, with his eight starts all coming this past season. For his career, Ferguson averaged 3.7 points in 15.5 minutes of action.