Former SHU Players Plead Not Guilty

Two former Seton Hall University basketball players pleaded not guilty on Friday, according to Katherine Carter of the Essex County Prosecutor's Office. Robert Mitchell, 23, and Kelly Whitney, 27, are charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, burglary, robbery and weapons charges.

On Sun., March 14, Mitchell was removed from the SHU basketball team after publicly criticizing then-head coach Bobby Gonzalez after the team's Big East tournament loss to Notre Dame. On Mon., he allegedly entered an Irvington Ave. residence with an accomplice, forced the eight occupants into a common area at gunpoint and relieved them of $300 in cash and personal items, including credit and debit cards, cell phones, drivers' licenses and digital cameras. At least some of the occupants were Seton Hall students.

, when South Orange officers spotted him in the vicinity of South Orange and Poe Avenues in Newark. Mitchell apparently confessed to the charges, giving a videotaped statement to the South Orange Police Department. He implicated Whitney, also a former SHU basketball player.

Two days later, Thurs., March 18, Whitney was arrested at a Newark hotel.

If convicted, the men could face 10 to 20 years in prison.