COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Ahmad Hardy, an Associated Press All-America running back, will miss Missouri’s season-opening game as he recovers from being shot in the leg three months ago.
“Hopefully, he can keep working and try to get back as soon as possible,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said Saturday. “Really don’t have a timetable on that. It’s up to his body and his response.”
The 25th-ranked Tigers will start the season at home on Sept. 3 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff without Hardy on the field.
“He’s doing everything that we can ask him to do,” Drinkwitz said. “Just not going to be able to be ready for that first game. We’re going to do the very best by him. His team and our medical team just feel like it’s in his best interest to hold off. I want to make sure that I get that out there to fans now so that there’s no false hope there.”
Drinkwitz said in July that it could take Hardy five to eight weeks to be cleared to play.
Hardy was shot in his home state while attending a concert in Laurel, Mississippi, on May 10. A few days later, police made an arrest in the shooting and charged Rashodrick Harris with aggravated assault. Harris was released on $500,000 bond.
Hardy set a single-season school record with 16 touchdowns last year as a sophomore and was second in the nation with 1,649 yards rushing. He ran for 1,351 yards and scored 13 touchdowns for Louisiana-Monroe as a freshman before transferring to play for the Tigers.
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