Senior guard Jeremy Hazell was shot on Christmas night during an attempted armed robbery in Harlem, N.Y.
Seton Hall University Assistant Athletic Director Matt Sweeney said in a phone interview with SNY's Adam Zagoria, "He was shot last night in his hometown [Harlem] after an attempted robbery," Sweeney confirmed by phone. "He was back home for the holiday. He was shot during an attempted robbery. He was shot under his right arm. He was taken to St. Luke's Roosevelt, treated and released this morning.
Hazell was shot while returning home from a party with his brother and another person when they were confronted by four individuals, who attempted to rob them. Hazell and the two others started to run away when one of the robbers opened fire. One of the bullets went through Hazell's right armpit and hit his ribcage, according to Brendan Prunty.
"He's resting at home comfortably. It's certainly not life-threatening in any way."
Sweeney had no additional information on the incident.
Head coach Kevin Willard did not find out about the incident involving Hazell until after the Pirates' 69-61 loss to Richmond on Sunday.
However, he did say that Hazell may redshirt or he may have played his last game as a Pirate due to his broken wrist which he suffered during Seton Hall's win over Alabama in the Paradise Jam earlier this season.
Hazell underwent surgery on Dec. 2 to repair the broken bone. The initial prognosis for Hazell's return was four to six weeks from the day of the surgery.
His next trip to the doctor will be on Jan. 10, when doctors and the Pirates medical staff may decide on the future of Hazell's season.
"January 10 we'll find out," Willard said during his press conference as reported by Zagoria. "Even then we'll have to make a decision whether it's good for him to come back or not, this year…There's a pretty good chance he might not come back this year.
"The way I look at injuries. If it's good for him to come back and it makes sense for him and he can be a highly productive player and make money out of it next year then he'll come back. But if he's not going to be 100 percent and it'll hurt his draft status or making money the year after then we'll make the decision that he should red-shirt. We're going to do whatever's best for Jeremy."
Hazell had been averaging 24 points per game in the three games that he played this season. He currently sits tied for seventh for career points as a Pirate.
Check back to thesetonian.com for more information.
Tim LeCras can be reached at timothy.lecras@student.shu.edu.
