Tony Costner (born June 30, 1962) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player who was selected by the Washington Bullets in the 2nd round (34th overall) of the

1984 NBA Draft The 1984 NBA draft was the 37th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). It was held at the Felt Forum at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on June 19, 1984, before the 1984–85 season. The draft is generally c ...

and played in Europe and in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

. Costner was a 6'10" Center from

St. Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College. Saint Joseph's is the seventh olde ...

. He is the father of professional player

Brandon Costner Brandon Jay Costner (born July 21, 1987) is an American professional basketball player, currently a free agent. He most recently played for Puerto Rican teams Grises de Humacao and Santeros de Aguada of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional. He played ...

Early life

Costner graduated from Overbrook High School in Philadelphia in 1980. Costner was recognized in 2012 by the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Dail ...

'' as a third-team All City member on its list of the "Best high school hoops players of past 35 years".

College career

Staying in Philadelphia for his collegiate career, Costner played Center for St. Joseph's from 1980 to 1984. He averaged 14.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists in his career. As a Senior, Costner averaged 18.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.0 assists, as St. Joseph's finished 20–9 under coach Jim Boyle. For his career, Costner was an

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

All-Conference selection in his junior and senior seasons, a three-time All-Big 5 selection and an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-America in 1983.Costner scored 1,730 career points with 951 career rebounds. On December 30, 1983, Costner scored 47 points vs.

Alaska-Anchorage The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) is a public university in Anchorage, Alaska. UAA also administers four community campuses spread across Southcentral Alaska: Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College, Matanuska–Susitna College, and Pri ...

, which still stands as the St. Joseph's single game record.

Professional career

On June 19, 1984, the Washington Bullets selected Tony Costner in Round 2 with Pick 34 in the 1984 NBA Draft. Costner went on to play in Europe in 1984–85 and later the

. Costner Averaged 20.4 points and 10.1 rebounds in 28 games for Claret Las Palmas in 1984–85. He averaged 11.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in his 54-games career with the CBA Rockford Lightning, also playing for the

Tulsa Fast Breakers The Savannah Spirits were a professional basketball team that played for two years in the Continental Basketball Association from 1986 to 1988, amassing a total regular season record of 42 wins and 60 losses for a total of 306.5 points. The team o ...

, Rochester Flyers and

Philadelphia Spirit The Philadelphia Spirit was a United States Basketball League team that played from 1991 to 1992 at Holy Family University in Northeast Philadelphia. In 1991, they finished first in the league, with a 15–5 record. They beat the Miami Tropics in ...

. In Europe he played for (1984–1985) Napoli Basket, (1985–1986) La Palma, (1987–1988) A.P.U. Udine, (1989–1990) Montpellier, (1991–1992) CSP Limoges, (1992–1993) Sporting Atene, (1993–1994) AEK Atene, (1994) Est. Bahía Blanca, (1994–1996) Sporting Atene and (1996–1997) Papagou.

Personal life

Costner is the father of former North Carolina State and professional player

Awards

* Costner was inducted into the

Philadelphia Big 5 The Big 5 is an informal association of college athletic programs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is not a conference, but rather a group of NCAA Division I basketball schools who compete for the city’s collegiate championship. The Big 5 c ...

Hall of Fame in 1990. * In 1990, Costner was inducted into the Saint Joseph's Men's Basketball Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Costner, Tony 1962 births Living people AEK B.C. players American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from New Jersey CB Gran Canaria players Centers (basketball) Estudiantes de Bahía Blanca basketball players Greek Basket League players Lega Basket Serie A players Liga ACB players Limoges CSP players Montpellier Paillade Basket players Pallalcesto Amatori Udine players Papagou B.C. players People from Montclair, New Jersey Rockford Lightning players Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball players Sporting basketball players Sportspeople from Essex County, New Jersey Washington Bullets draft picks