Queens guard latest to abandon the Hall

Seton Hall took a risk, but received no reward. Not even close.

When Jevon Thomas was involved in an altercation in an intramural basketball game last February, Pirates coach Kevin Willard stuck his neck out for the Queens guard, believing the Kansas State transfer could atone for his error in judgement and help the program this year. Instead, Thomas struggled on the court after serving a suspension for the first semester, and left the program on Wednesday, the school announced.

“Jevon has made the decision to leave our program,” Willard said in a statement released before Seton Hall hosted Providence at Prudential Center. “We wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Sources said Thomas’ decision was over a lack of playing time; he was unhappy playing just a combined 13 minutes over the last three games. The volatile junior, who has one year of eligibility left, didn’t even appear in a Feb. 1 loss at No. 24 Xavier.

Thomas got into trouble last February, when he allegedly put his hands around graduate assistant Kevin Matthews’ neck during a fracas at an intramural basketball game. Thomas, a highly rated and well-traveled high school recruit, had committed to St. John’s in 2012 before winding up at Kansas State.

Thomas averaged just 0.7 points, 1.0 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.1 steals per game in 10 contests this season, averaging just 10.2 minutesper game. He received a season-high 14 minutes in a Jan. 7 rout of DePaul. He committed 11 fouls and scored just seven pointsnever coming close to replacing Madison Jones as the Pirates’ starting point guard.

Thomas is the third player to leave the Seton Hall program this season, joining forwards Veer Singh and Myles Carter. Singh opted to transfer Dec. 17, while Carter was dismissed from the team Dec. 22 after repeated offcourt issues.