Kostic leaving Bishop Noll basketball team

His college choice had already been declared months before, but Milos Kostic wasn't finished making decisions about school.

The Times learned Friday that the 6-foot-8 junior will not be returning to Bishop Noll this fall. Instead, Kostic will attend Traders Point Christian Academy in Whitestown, just northwest of Indianapolis.

There, the Northwestern University recruit and native of Serbia will join another future Wildcat, 6-11 Alex Olah of Romania.

"I heard (Kostic's) sister, who is his guardian, moved and got a job in Indianapolis," Noll coach Drew Trost said in confirming the player's departure. "We definitely appreciate what he did (for us). As much as we hate to see him go, it kind of makes sense, to be honest with you. In a lot of ways, it could be good for him.

"It's a lot to ask of a kid to come to a new country. It's an adjustment, and we don't have a big foreign-exchange program. There's 50 kids in his new school, so they can cater to him a lot more."

One other thing could work in Kostic's favor as well.

As a prep school, TPCA is not sanctioned by the IHSAA or eligible to play in the Indiana state basketball tournament, meaning it also isn't required to follow any of the organization's guidelines. Thus, the amount of time allotted for practice can be much more expansive.

"It was very shocking to Milos to find you can't practice all year long (as an IHSAA member school)," Trost said. "If you're talented when you're young in Europe, they work them really hard. They literally do practice all year long."

Kostic averaged 7.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 blocks for Noll's state runner-up team in 2010-11. While the statistics weren't overwhelming, Trost called Kostic a "super skilled kid" whose best basketball has yet to be played.