August has been a great month for Tennessee’s men’s basketball team on the recruiting trail so far. The Vols picked up a big-time commitment from No. 1 in-state player and four-star guard Keon Johnson in the 2020 class, and now they know they’ll be getting an official visit in the near future from one of their top remaining targets in the class.
PJ Hall, a four-star power forward from Roebuck, South Carolina, included the Vols in his list of finalists last month. Soon, he’ll be making a trip over to Knoxville to check out Tennessee.
Due to a scheduling error, Hall wasn’t able to make an official visit to Tennessee earlier this year. But now a trip to UT’s campus is officially on the docket according to Justin Young of HoopSeen.com. According to Young, Hall will take an official visit to Tennessee on October 18th, marking his first official to UT. Hall also has official visits planned for Clemson, Florida, and Virginia Tech before heading to Knoxville, and he’ll make his last official visit to see Georgia Tech on November 1st. All five of those programs were the teams Hall included as his finalists.
The 6-foot-9, 220-pound forward is rated as the No. 65 overall player, No. 9 power forward, and No. 1 player in the state of South Carolina in the 2020 class according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
Hall has a sister who attends Florida, but he’s developed a strong relationship with Tennessee and head coach Rick Barnes throughout his recruitment. In an interview with Jed Blackwell of GoUpstate.com, he had nothing but positive things to say about Barnes and the culture at UT.
“It’s hard to find something not to like about Coach Barnes,” Hall told Blackwell. “He loves his guys, and they love him back. And I like their style of play and the way they get up and down the floor.”
Hall is the type of athletic, versatile power forward that can have major success in Tennessee’s system. He moves very well for his size, and he has a very high basketball IQ. Hall is able to stretch the floor and hit threes as well, and he has plenty of confidence in his shot from distance. That doesn’t mean he’s a finesse forward, though; Hall is gritty and fights inside both on offense and defense. He can nail fadeaway jumpers and drive into the paint and muscle his way forward for tough baskets. He’s also a solid rim protector and doesn’t budge easily in the paint.
These boys started talkin’ to me like I’m slowing down… opinions over statistics of course.@SenseiHoops ? pic.twitter.com/2nq0RmS243
— P.J. Hall (@pjhall020) June 23, 2019
During the NBPA Top 100 Camp back in June, Hall also had this incredible highlight outlet pass:
Outlet pass just CRAZY ? @pjhall020 @Top100Camp #NBPATop100 pic.twitter.com/g6lTFSYlWb
— Overtime (@overtime) June 27, 2019
In the Adidas Gauntlet series this year, Hall played in 14 total games with Upward Stars, and he was a standout player. According to ExposureSportsNews.com, Hall averaged 14.8 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks a game in 18.6 minutes a contest. He shot 59.1 percent overall and was 24-of-43 from three (55.8 percent).
As a junior with Dorman, Hall averaged 14.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game while shooting 56 percent from the floor. He was voted an All-Region and All-State player and helped the Cavaliers win their third-straight 5A state title.
Tennessee currently has two commits in their 2020 recruiting class, and both are from borderline five-star prospects. Four-star shooting guard Keon Johnson and four-star small forward Corey Walker have given UT pledges in the 2020 class so far.
