CLEMSON — Even if the scouts told him he was a first-round pick in the NBA Draft, PJ Hall might have come back to Clemson.

Luckily for the Tigers, Hall never had to make that difficult decision. Hall returned to Clemson this summer for one more year after he gave things a go at the NBA Scouting Combine.

The senior forward loved the experience and feels it will help him this coming season, but even he was glad he did not have to choose between an NBA opportunity and the college life he loves at Clemson.

“I really love it here. I did not want to leave,” Hall said. “It would have to have been like, ‘We are taking you in the first round.’ Something of that nature. Maybe that would not have gotten me out of here. I was not ready to become an adult and do all that stuff.”

Hall enjoys being a college student and what comes along with it. Like throwing a dog biscuit through his car window at a stoplight so the dog in the other car can have a treat.

“I am living with some friends still, and my girlfriend is still here,” he said. “It would have been awesome (to be a first-round selection). If the NBA was calling at that time, you have to go when they are calling. But at the same time, I love college and I love Clemson.”

Clemson head coach Brad Brownell loves having his star player back, though he was pretty confident Hall was going to return to Clemson.

“I thought PJ wanted to come back. He basically told me he did. He said, ‘Coach, I am ninety-nine percent sure I am coming back. I want to go through the process. I want to learn. I want to experience some new things, but I love Clemson. I want to finish my degree. I want to leave my legacy here.’”

Hall did not want the Tigers’ stunning loss to Morehead State in the first round of the NIT last March to be the last thing Clemson fans remember about his time in Tiger Town.

“I definitely did not want to leave on that note. It still hurts. It’s not a happy memory,” he said. “I have never felt, especially at Clemson, walking off the court like I was embarrassed. Golly! It was not fun.

“So, that definitely added some fuel to the fire.”

Hall used that fire, and the fact he is healthy for the first time since prior to his sophomore season, to work his tail off this summer. Prior to taking a break a few weeks back, the senior won the program’s Strong Man Challenge.

He says he is in the best shape of his career.

“It has been a very productive summer,” Hall said. “I have been thinking about that (loss to Morehead State), thinking about other teams in the ACC, the non-conference schedule, making statements and stuff like that.”

“Obviously, selection (Sunday) was tough for all of us, but the loss was (worse),” he continued. “And for it to be on your shoulders, it was not Brownell losing the game out there, it was the players. Knowing it is something like that…it is hard. You have to deal with it like a man. You have to own up to it and just get better and learn from it.”

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