Spokesman: Seton Hall player shot by NYC mugger

NEW YORK (AP) - Seton Hall University basketball team senior guard Jeremy Hazell was shot and wounded Christmas night by someone who tried to rob him and was taken to a hospital, a school spokesman confirmed on Sunday.

Hazell, who has been away from the basketball court since undergoing wrist surgery Dec. 2 for an injury suffered last month, was kept overnight at a Manhattan hospital as a precaution and was resting at home in Harlem late Sunday, school athletics spokesman Matt Sweeney said.

Hazell was shot under his right arm, but his injuries weren’t considered life-threatening, said Sweeney, who didn’t go into detail about the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

“He was shot Christmas night in his hometown of Harlem after an attempted robbery,” Sweeney said in a statement. “He was back home for the holiday.”

New York police would not provide additional details of the shooting because Hazell is considered a witness to a crime.

The 6-foot-5 Hazell, who’s tied with Andre Barrett for seventh place on the all-time Seton Hall scoring list with 1,861 points, wasn’t present for the South Orange, N.J.-based university’s 69-61 loss to the University of Richmond (Va.) on Sunday afternoon. He was given permission to spend the Christmas holiday weekend with his family.

Hazell, a preseason All-Big East selection and honorable mention All-America, broke the scaphoid bone in his left wrist in a win over Alabama on Nov. 19, when he scored 27 points. He underwent successful surgery and was awaiting a Jan. 10 examination that would determine whether he could return to action this season.

Hazell saw action in only three games this season, so in the eyes of the NCAA he’s a candidate for a medical redshirt, which would grant him an extra year of eligibility to play college hoops.

It was unknown whether Hazell’s injuries sustained in the shooting would further dampen his chances of returning this season.

Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard didn’t discuss Hazell’s shooting and said only “there’s a pretty good chance that Jeremy won’t come back.” It was the first time Willard addressed the idea of Hazell sitting out the entire season as a medical redshirt.

“We’re going to do whatever is best for Jeremy,” Willard said. “If he’s not going to be 100 percent and it will hurt his draft status or making money the year after, then we’ll make the decision to redshirt him.”