Missouri 'a long way from knowing' Ahmad Hardy return to football after star RB shot
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MIRAMAR BEACH, FL – Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy is doing “really well” and on the road to recovery, his coach Eliah Drinkwitz said, just more than two weeks after Hardy suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.
When Hardy will return to football is unclear. He led the SEC in rushing last season.
The Missouri junior is back in Columbia, and he’s been released from the hospital.
“We’re a long away from knowing what the football side of it will be,” Drinkwitz said at SEC spring meetings, “but from an overall health, he’ll be just fine.”
Hardy sustained a gunshot wound in his upper leg on May 10 while at the Kamikazy Biker Club in Laurel, Mississippi, his home state. He was treated and had surgery at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
Laurel Police Department Sgt. Macon Davis told the Kansas City Star that Hardy was in the passenger seat of a vehicle while attempting to leave a concert at the biker club when he was shot. Hardy is not believed to have been involved in the events that led up to the shooting and was described as an innocent bystander, according to the Star.
Drinkwitz said he’d have more information in a couple of months on Hardy’s timeline for returning to football.
“There are not a lot of return-to-play protocol with this particular type of (situation),” Drinkwitz said.
Hardy posted a video to social media May 20 addressing his recovery: “I want to thank everybody for all the support and all of your prayers and thank everybody for everything,” he said. “I’m back on the road to success.”
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ahmad Hardy update: Missouri RB football return unclear after getting shot
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