The Wayne High School graduate joined a loaded team that returned everyone from a squad that won the SEC last year and went to the Final Four, but she has carved out a larger role than she expected for coach Dawn Staley.
“I’m usually the first guard off the bench, and that is incredible to me,” Hall said. “Knowing the coaches have that much confidence in me to go out there and do what I need to do is really great.”
Hall has played in 34 games and scored 96 points while grabbing 48 rebounds.
She averages 9.4 minutes per game for the No. 1 seed Gamecocks, who are 33-2 and getting set to face Louisville at 7 p.m. in a national semifinal on ESPN on Friday.
“This is something a lot of people don’t get to experience, especially on the D-I level,” Hall said. “I think this is something that you just really have to take and grasp and be in the moment and record things, take pictures and just have memories for things like this. This is incredible, especially as a freshman being at the Final Four, it’s really an amazing opportunity.”
The sports management major is trying to bring as many people along as she can for the journey — even if only virtually.
She said she has become more active on social media since going to college, and there is a practical reason for that.
“I started doing it in college because I feel like the more of a following you have on social media the more opportunities you can take care of like (name/image/likeness) deals and things like that,” said Hall, who can be found @BreezyHall on Instagram and TikTok.
“Of course those NIL deals do not come unless you’re out there balling on the court as well, but I think I have the face for it. I think I have the voice, and I think in high school I didn’t really put my personality out there on social media. Now I’m doing dances on Instagram and TikTok dances just trying to be more personable.”
Hall, who began getting Division I scholarship offers before playing a game in high school, was a McDonald’s All-American at Wayne, where she is the averaged 25.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game as a senior.
She had her pick of colleges but chose the Gamecocks because she felt Staley would challenge her to take her game to new heights.
So far, she has enjoyed the warmer weather in Columbia and the experience of playing for Staley, who was recently named the Naismith National Coach of the Year.
“She is really good at telling you the truth but not cutting you down,” Hall said. “On the court you’ve gotta be tough. You can’t be weak-minded. She’s not a screamer, but she’s gonna tell you how it is.”
A do-it-all player in high school, Hall has found her way onto the floor at one of the nation’s top programs by doing the little things.
“I think what I do best is probably listening to the coaches,” she said. “When they ask me to do something, I go out there and do it to the best of my ability. I think also one of my biggest attributes is I have a lot of hustle. I’m diving on the floor, trying to get loose balls. That’s probably one of my greatest separators.”
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