They were a big part of NKU’s first NCAA Tournament team. Now they’re transferring.

Sophomore Mason Faulkner was granted his release from the Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball program on Wednesday, the school announced in a news release. That development came about two weeks after fellow sophomore Carson Williams was granted the same request.

Faulkner, who was the state’s leading boys’ scorer as a senior at Caverna High School, and Williams, the 2016 Mr. Basketball winner from Owen County High School, were among the top-five scorers for the Norse during the 2016-17 season, during which they made the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament. The Norse, a 15 seed, fell to the University of Kentucky, 79-70, in the first round.

Williams started in 34 of NKU’s 35 games and averaged 10.8 points in 24.7 minutes as a freshman. Faulkner was fifth in scoring at 7.4 points in 18.3 minutes his first season.

Williams again was third in scoring as a sophomore, averaging 12 points and 5.6 rebounds while starting 27 of 32 games for the Norse, who were the No. 1 seed in the Horizon League tournament but were upset in the first round.

Faulkner dipped to 5.6 points (seventh overall on the team) but played in all 32 games as a sophomore. He increased his three-point percentage to 36 percent from 24.7 percent his first season. He averaged a little more than two assists per game each season.

NKU, which lost at Louisville in the first round of the NIT, will lose a total of four Kentuckians from its roster, as it graduates Lavone Holland (Ballard) and Nick Ayers (Simon Kenton) in addition to the transfers of Faulkner and Williams. The Norse will return four Kentuckians — leading scorer Drew McDonald (Newport Central Catholic) as well as Darian Childress (Fern Creek), Tyler Sharpe (Bullitt East) and Chris Vogt (Graves County) — and added Mercer County’s Trevon Faulkner, this year’s Mr. Basketball, as part of its 2018 signing class.

This story was originally published April 4, 2018 at 4:35 PM with the headline "They were a big part of NKU’s first NCAA Tournament team. Now they’re transferring.."