Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Trevor Ferguson: Eligible And Ready To Contribute

From Tim Peeler:

He had another outstanding season at Oldsmar, and some of college basketball’s biggest names called, as well as several local schools. His eyes were opened about the possibility of going out of state, and was convinced that Pittsburgh was the place for him. So he signed a letter of intent without ever visiting the school.

When he arrived in the Steel City following his high school graduation for summer classes, he knew immediately that he needed to head back south. He was homesick and Pittsburgh was a far cry from Tampa.

Even though he knew he would have to sit out and entire year, Ferguson decided to transfer elsewhere. He chose NC State, though he could not enroll until the start of the spring semester earlier this year. So he spent last fall semester at New Creations Prep School in Richmond, Ind., where he played only a few games, but got all of his school work in order to enroll at State for the spring. And, just as last season wrapped up, the coach who had recruited Ferguson, Herb Sendek, decided to go elsewhere, leaving Ferguson up in the air about his future.

Now, however, he loves Sidney Lowe’s offensive system and thinks he can be a big asset to a program that has played only six players the last couple of games. He might be a primary ball handler on occasion, behind Atsur and Gavin Grant, but mostly Ferguson sees himself as a scorer.

“Honestly, I am more of an up-and-down kind of player,” Ferguson said. “I love to run and get up and down the floor, and Coach Lowe’s offense is great for that. I knew I was going to fit in right away.

“I am more comfortable on the wing,” Ferguson said. “But I also feel like I am one of the better ball-handlers on the team. I feel like I can get the ball to the right people who need to score, especially Gavin, because he is a beast and we need to get him the ball as much as possible.”