Brownell says PJ Hall is the best recruit he's had at Clemson

Hall is the second-leading returning scorer in the ACC. (Photo: Ken Ruinard / USATODAY)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Jun 04 10:24:06 GMT-04:00 2023

GREENVILLE – Brad Brownell wasn’t ready to follow in Dabo Swinney’s footsteps and give PJ Hall a certain number of stars, but he instead says that Hall is the best recruit Clemson has ever had in the basketball program.

Hall recently tested the waters of the NBA Draft but also recently withdrew his name from the draft and made the decision to return to Clemson for his senior season.

Back in the day, Swinney called CJ Spiller a 10-star recruit when he decided to return to Clemson, and he echoed those comments a few years later when Vic Beasley made the decision to return. Brownell took it a step further.

“Probably the best recruit we’ve had at Clemson,” Brownell said with of Hall. “Super excited. I thought it was a great process for PJ. I think he learned a few things that we’ve talked about with him for a while. But the experience of playing out there in those kinds of settings is invaluable. I think he’ll grow from it. He’s had a really good spring and I know he’s excited about this year.”

Hall started slowly last season while he recovered from foot surgery and wound up leading the Tigers in scoring (15.3 points per game). He averaged 5.7 rebounds, while shooting 53.5 percent from the field, 39.8 percent from 3 and 78.6 percent from the foul line.

The Tigers now have the top two returning scorers in the ACC with the return of Hall and the addition of Syracuse transfer Joe Girard. Hall tallied 17.6 points per game last year in league play, and he totaled 6.6 rebounds per contest and added 21 blocks.

Was Brownell worried, even a little bit, that Hall would leave?

“A little,” Brownell said. “I’m really happy for those guys to get to that point because that’s a lifelong dream for them, to get to wear an NBA logo and to perform at the highest levels in front of people that you’re trying to impress.

“But I also know that PJ loves Clemson and he wants to leave a legacy there. So, I knew that unless he felt really strongly that he might be like a first-round pick or something like that, I felt really strongly that he would come back.”