Metro

Hofstra hoops jailbird whines over ‘theft’ rap

TIME OUT: Star basketball player Jimmy Hall (above), one of four Hofstra teammates accused of robbing dorm rooms (inset), is losing his cool behind bars. (
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He went from being a big man on campus to a big baby in the slammer.

“I’m sorry. I just want to go home,” bellyached Hofstra hoopster Jimmy Hall in a brief jailhouse interview after his arrest with three teammates on charges of swiping thousands of dollars’ worth of electronics from dorm rooms.

The 6-foot-4 Hall looked broken down, cold and tired after trading in his uniform for an orange jumpsuit.

“I don’t know why I did it,” he said — though he allegedly told cops, “I needed some money.”

The players were busted Friday for allegedly stealing a cache of high-end Apple products, including laptops, iPads and iPhones, along with other electronics.

Shaquille Stokes, 20, Dallas Anglin, 18, Kentrell Washington, 18, and Hall were no longer listed on the team’s roster yesterday.

Hall, 18, may have “needed some money” — but Anglin’s family sent him off to college with a laptop and iPad.

“His father makes enough money. He has everything. They bought him everything,” said Mido Midoemad, 34, a neighbor of the Montclair, NJ, family who added that he believes Anglin’s innocent.

“They got him the iPad. They got him the laptop. They got him everything . . . so I don’t think he needed any of this stuff.”

The athletes were busted after a student noticed that her stolen iPad had been re-registered to Stokes, cops said.

All of the players admitted some role in the crimes, according to court documents.

Hall wouldn’t say who planned the capers — and insisted that he isn’t a hardened criminal.

“I can’t tell you whose idea it was. I don’t know. I don’t remember,” he said. “I don’t want to be viewed as a criminal. I’m not like that.”

His family declined to comment.

Anglin’s dad, Kyle, said, “My point of view will have no bearing on what people think. There is a lot of harm being done. When we are ready, we’ll come out with the facts.”

Stokes’ Harlem neighbor has known the point guard for 10 years and said the player’s brother was also on a basketball scholarship.

“I like the kid. He’s confident and smart. I don’t know how he got involved in this. Maybe he got caught up with the [other] kids,” said Daryl Ambrose, 53.

“It’s out of his character. He is not a menace to society.”

Ambrose said he could understand how Stokes might have needed the money.

“That seems feasible,” he said. “But he had a lot to lose. He may have his faults, but he’s a good kid.”

The struggling Pride (3-4) lost, 73-47, last night to Southern Methodist University, coached by former Knick coach Larry Brown.

Some Hofstra fans still stood by the busted players.

“Those are good guys, innocent until proven guilty,” said one fan.

Coach Mo Cassara talked after the game about his “disappointment” over the arrests.

“There’s nobody that feels worse about it than me,” he said. “There’s no one more disappointed and no one that has slept less and is more devastated about this than me. I’m heartbroken.”

“It’s going to be tough for the school to shake this off, and it’s going to be even worse for the team,” said Sydney Colbert, 18, a Hofstra sophomore and basketball fan.

“I know a few of the guys who were arrested, and I feel so bad for them. It was stupid what they did. I think the whole school feels that way.

“They messed up their lives.”