South Carolina's top hoops prospect visits Clemson

PJ Hall has been a frequent visitor to Clemson.

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Wed Sep 11 13:35:15 GMT-04:00 2019

Last Saturday was a good day on the gridiron and in football recruiting, but it was also a day for a local hoops product to be back on campus.

The state’s top 2020 basketball recruit, 6-9 forward PJ Hall of Dorman, had a busy three-day stretch of recruiting activity. Over the weekend he made his second official visit to Clemson. And Monday, the first day of the new basketball recruiting period, Hall was visited at his school by coaches from Clemson, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

Hall knows Clemson extremely well considering the number of visits he has taken over the years. He took a junior official visit and an unofficial visit in late August for the Georgia Tech football game. He capped his visits with the Tigers with his senior official visit last weekend.,

“This one was more of a laid back visit,” Hall said. “I got to hang out with the team a whole lot. Went out and made it feel like I was an actual student. I went to a few practices, nothing really that I hadn’t seen before. It definitely was a good visit.”

Clemson is the lone state school involved with Hall and is the closest to him in terms of distance. Tiger coach Brad Brownell has used the “stay in state” argument in conversations with Hall and he drove that home again over the weekend.

“The same message about the hometown hero, and it’s close to home but not too close,” Hall said. “Just saying that me coming there would fit with the system. Same things he’s already said to me, I come there and it’s a 40-year decision, not a four, and the people would love me.”

Hall, of course, is closely examining the basketball programs of the schools he’s working with, but he’s also thinking about his overall life on campus as a student. He also wants to enjoy his time off the hardwood while in college.

“I definitely look solely at the basketball thing, but I definitely like the other stuff too,” Hall said. “I look at it as if I weren’t a student-athlete. I want to go to a school that I would actually enjoy. I look at other stuff too.”

Monday was the first day coaches could be back on the road and visit with the 2020 recruits. At school, Hall met with coaches from Clemson and Georgia Tech. Virginia Tech coach Mike Young will have his in-home visit Tuesday night, and Brownell will have his in-home visit next Monday night.

This Monday night it was coach Mike White of Florida who came by for dinner and a chat.

“We talked a lot,” Hall said. “We really didn’t talk any basketball. They are trying to make me feel like family.”

Hall also took a junior official visit to Florida, where his sister is a volleyball player and will return for his senior official visit on the 20th. He will visit Virginia Tech October 11th and Tennessee the following weekend. His last visit will be to Georgia Tech the first weekend in November.