FARGO, N.D. - North Dakota State head men's basketball coach Saul Phillips announced Thursday, May 17, that guard Dylan Hale will not return to the team for the 2012-13 season.

Hale, a 6-foot-1 guard from St. Paul, Minn., averaged 4.5 points, 1.8 assists and 1.3 rebounds per game for North Dakota State as a sophomore last year.  He played at Texas State in 2009-10 before transferring and sitting out the 2010-11 season at NDSU.

"Dylan's efforts at NDSU were greatly appreciated by our staff and his teammates," Phillips said.  "He enjoyed his experience here and I enjoyed coaching him.

"A family issue makes it important that he is in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area at this time of his life.  It is the right move for him and we are all supportive of the decision."

Hale played in 29 games and made 23 starts for NDSU last season.  He scored a team- and season-high 13 points at Minnesota and had 12 points in the home win over Oakland.

North Dakota State finished 17-14 overall and tied for fourth in The Summit League with a 9-9 record.  The Bison lost to Western Illinois in the quarterfinals of the Summit League tournament but were selected to the College Basketball Invitational presented by Zebra Pen.