Dallin Hall explains decision to return to BYU
PHOENIX (ABC4 Sports) – When Dallin Hall heard Mark Pope was leaving BYU for his alma mater, Kentucky, he had mixed emotions.
“You know, I was happy for him,” Hall said from Phoenix, where he is training. “That’s like obviously a dream job for him. But my head was spinning a little bit. I think a lot of people don’t understand how critical what coach you play for is.”
So after two very productive seasons at BYU, Hall decided to enter the transfer portal. One school went hard after him, Creighton, led by Hall’s best friend, former Utah State star Steven Ashworth.
Chris Burgess returns to BYU as assistant coach
“I have a ton of respect and love for their coaching staff in the short time that I got to know them,” Hall said. “But especially to Steve, to call him. We’ve been like brothers for a long time, and so it would have been really cool to be teammates.”
But when BYU hired Kevin Young as its next head coach, Hall went to the press conference and was impressed by Young’s NBA credentials.
“He said he wanted to make BYU a pipeline for players to get to the NBA,” said Hall, who averaged 9 points and 5 assists per game last season. “That’s a goal of mine. Obviously with his connections and his experience, he has a lot of ways to help players like myself in that endeavor.”
Hall wasn’t the only BYU player to re-commit to the Cougars. Richie Saunders, who had also entered the portal, announced his decision on the same day.
“The night that he committed, I texted him and said, Yo, what do you think?” Hall said. “We had a quick phone call, and I told him I was leaning towards BYU. He said, I’m announcing that I’m coming back.”
Dallin Hall, Richie Saunders returning to BYU
Last week, Hall and several other BYU players got to see Young coach the Phoenix Suns in the NBA playoffs against Minnesota.
“It was awesome,” Hall said. “Coach let us sit front row for the warm up, so we could watch Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. He’s already talked about having some of those guys come work out, so it’ll be really cool to learn from them.”
Young and Pope have much different styles and personalities, but Hall is already gelling with his new coach.
“He’s just pretty low key, pretty chill, and I kind of like it,” Hall said. “It’s easy to connect with him pretty quick. So I’m excited to see Coach Young and what he has to teach us.”
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