Jamaica, NY -- (Sports Network) - St. John's University swingman Anthony Mason Jr. has been granted a medical hardship by the Big East Conference and will officially rejoin the Red Storm for a redshirt senior season in 2009-10.

Mason played only three games last season and was forced to miss the remainder of the season due to a torn peroneal tendon in his right foot. He averaged a team-best 14.0 points per game during the 2007-08 season, but has spent the last seven months recovering from the foot injury.

"We're obviously very happy and excited to have Mason back," said Red Storm coach Norm Roberts. "We all felt terrible for him when he got hurt, but now he has a great opportunity to come back. He is such a versatile scorer, and his ability to be our main scorer on any given night makes our team that much deeper."

Mason, the son of former New York Knicks forward Anthony Mason, was cleared to return to the court for offseason voluntary workouts in early June.