Raven Hall signs to Coastal Alabama, becomes 20th Leon girls basketball college signee

The summer before Raven Hall was set to start high school, she ran into Leon girl's basketball coach Bruce Daniels and she had one thing to say.

"I'm going to Lincoln"

Fast forward to the first day of school, Daniels was happy to see none other than Hall in the classrooms of Leon. Four years later, Daniels watched on as Hall signed her letter of intent to play for Coastal Alabama Community College.

Hall is the 20th player to sign to play college basketball during Daniels's tenure as head coach at Leon. She averaged nine points and five rebounds in her senior season.

"I was just relieved, I was very stressed out thinking I wasn't going to go to college for basketball," Hall said. "I wanted to further myself and play basketball at the collegiate level, so I was very excited when I signed."

The opportunity to continue her basketball career in college at a place focused on her development appealed to Hall when deciding where to play.

Hall played four seasons of varsity basketball at Leon, but an ACL tear in her junior year left her on the sidelines for all but one game. She was one of the key figures in Daniel's teams over the course of her career with the Lions.

"It's been a great journey at Leon, I've met a lot of great people and done a lot of great things and learned some life lessons," Hall said. "I came here to play basketball for real, and that's what I did."

Developing for the next level

Hall signed her letter to play at Coastal Alabama Community College with her mother at her side and her friends and teammates in attendance. The support from her family and friends and teammates represented the family environment that Daniels is trying to build at Leon.

"It made me feel great and made me feel loved," Hall said. "To see my former teammates, my family and my friends... it really made me feel loved."

Daniels said that bringing back former players who have gone on to play at the collegiate level is important to his program. With 20 players now signed to play at the next level, Daniels said it's good for Tallahassee to see that the chance to get to the college level is available for everyone.

"We want to be culture for not just Leon, but in Tallahassee for girls basketball and girls sports," Daniels said. "It's important for the young kids to see that there is opportunities out there, and if they do well there is rewards for them, like furthering their education and having their education paid for, it's very important."

Daniels has made it his priority to develop his players into those who can play at the next level.

"Ideally it's about the next level," Daniels said. "The ultimate goal for most parents is can their kids go to college, and more importantly not just get to college but can they get a free education."

"It's a critical thing and we work pretty hard to make sure our kids get to school."

Liam Rooney covers preps sports for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Raven Hall becomes 20th Leon girls basketball college signee