Wide receiver Agim Shabaj will not be returning to the MSU football team as he has been ruled academically ineligible for the 2005 season, said John Lewandowski, assistant athletics director and director of Sports Information.

Shabaj, a high school teammate of junior quarterback Drew Stanton, played in 11 games and had 29 catches, with one touchdown last season. Shabaj averaged 8.2 yards per punt return. His best performance was against Rutgers in 2003 in which he had seven catches for 145 yards and one touchdown.

This would have been his senior year at MSU, and Shabaj now faces the decision of either transferring to another school that is not in Division 1-A and playing there for a season or applying for the NFL supplemental draft.

Shabaj has not said what his decision will be for next season.