Rider's Lindsey gets waiver, will play right away

St. John's transfer Nurideen Lindsey has been granted a hardship waiver from the NCAA and will be eligible to play immediately at Rider, the school announced Sunday.

St. John's transfer Nurideen Lindsey has been granted a hardship waiver from the NCAA and will be eligible to play immediately at Rider, the school announced Sunday.

Lindsey averaged 11.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists last season for the Red Storm, but after nine games he announced he would not return for the second semester.

Lindsey made a huge splash out of the gate for St. John's, scoring in double figures in the team's first five games, but his numbers tapered off dramatically. In his final four games, he hit double digits only once before announcing he was leaving the school.

The once-prized recruit enrolled at Rider and petitioned the NCAA to allow him to play immediately instead of in December, citing his need to be closer to his Philadelphia-based family.

His eligibility is welcome news for first-year coach Kevin Baggett, who is trying to right a 13-19 finish from last season. The Broncs lost their two leading scorers, Jeff Jones and Brandon Penn, to graduation, but Lindsey, a prolific scorer who ranks sixth all time in Philadelphia high school scoring, should help with that transition.

Lindsey, who played previously at Redlands Community College in Oklahoma, now has two years of eligibility left at Rider.