On the same day his team will face Rutgers for the second time this season, Seton Hall head coach Kevin Willard dismissed two players from his team.
Willard booted senior guards Keon Lawrence of Newark (pictured) and Jamel Jackson of Brooklyn from the team Saturday.
“The decision was made due to a violation of team rules and an ongoing pattern of conduct unbecoming of a representative of Seton Hall athletics,” the school said in a statement.
Alif Muhammad, a mentor to Lawrence and the head of the NIA Prep school in Newark, said Lawrence repeatedly broke curfew.
“They have to be in by 11 o’clock and he broke curfew Thursday night and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Muhammad said.
“He’s still my son and I love him,” he added. “I’m very disappointed. I’m glad he’s only four courses away from getting a diploma.”
In December, Lawrence entered a guilty plea in Middlesex County Court for his 2009 wrong-way driving incident on the Garden State Parkway and received five years probation, multiple sources with knowledge said at the time.
The dismissal does not appear related to that incident.
Jackson has played in 19 of the team’s 24 games this season and averaged 4.6 points and 1.2 rebounds per game. Lawrence, a transfer from the University of Missouri in 2008, saw action in all 24 games, but averaged just 4.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game.
Seton Hall (10-14, 4-8 Big East) has now lost three players this season.
Sophomore forward Ferrakohn Hall left at the semester and transferred to Memphis.
