SE: UVI President, 2018 K-State Athletics HOF Inductee David Hall Maintains Strong Connection to Alma Mater
Sep 11, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Sports Extra
By Corbin McGuire
David Hall is at an age where most people's college years are fading, in terms of memory and connection. Yet, while it's been 50 years since Hall first stepped on K-State's campus, both remain strong for the former men's basketball standout.
In 2016, Hall, now the president of the University of the Virgin Islands, was invited to be part of a Landon Lecture Series panel discussion on higher education. This June, the Wildcat alum was announced as part of the nine-person K-State Athletics Hall of Fame class, which will be officially inducted the weekend of September 27-29.
"The fact that both of these have happened at this stage in my life, and so close to each other, has really elevated my relationship to Kansas State," Hall, who played at K-State from 1969-72, said. "I entered into K-State Athletics about 50 years ago in a stage of my life where I didn't know what the future would hold, and to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of Kansas State Athletics, which is an outstanding athletic program nationally, is a special honor to me."
Hall was obviously a special player at K-State.
Despite only playing three years — freshmen were not allowed to compete in games then — he still ranks third on K-State's career rebounding list with 827, fourth in double-doubles (30) and double-digit scoring games (36) and sixth in rebounding average (10.1). Not to mention Hall helped K-State win a pair of Big Eight championships in the 1969-70 and 1971-72 seasons.
Hall said he's carried these experiences with him, both as memories and as lessons for life. Notably, he said his leadership abilities truly developed on the basketball court.
"I've been an academics leader at quite a number of institutions, from law schools to other universities, and I think that being forced to have to be a leader on the court and with other men who are also striving to be leaders, that provides you with some insightful lessons about what leadership is all about," he said. "So much of the success that I believe I've had as an academic leader is my ability to work well in a team and to lead a team. Being an athlete at K-State, and certainly in high school, taught me much about how to work well in a team and appreciate other people's strengths, and to make sure that your strengths are fitting well with that of others."
Following his career at K-State, Hall received his master's degree in human relations and doctor of jurisprudence (JD) from the University of Oklahoma, along with an L.L.M. degree and a doctorate of juridical science (SJD) from Harvard Law School. He then taught law for more than 25 years between stops at the University of Mississippi, the University of Oklahoma and Northeastern University.
His passion for higher education led him to become the dean of Northeastern University's law school, and then to the provost and senior vice president for the entire university — he was the first African-American to hold both positions. In 2009, he became UVI's president.
Hall's road to this point was not always smooth. Again, he said his experiences at K-State prepared him for the challenges he's encountered.
One specific example from K-State Hall referenced was from his sophomore season. It was his second game in a Wildcat uniform, at Creighton, and K-State struggled in the first half. Nothing seemed to work, he said.
Cotton Fitzsimmons, K-State's coach at the time and the man who recruited Hall to Manhattan, addressed the team at halftime with what's now a cliché phrase. Hall had never heard it, however.
"Cotton Fitzsimmons said to us, 'When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.' That stuck with me and it was meaningful because I felt what he was saying at that particular time is there's something inside of you as players that when you face a tremendous challenge, you have what it takes to overcome it," Hall said. "Certainly, that ended up being something that played itself out the rest of that year because we went on to win the Big Eight championship, went to the Midwest Regional (Semifinals) and we were tested throughout that whole process. We, for the most part, came through. We didn't win it all, but we certainly had a successful season.
"More importantly, that statement stayed with me in regards to life, that if you have something inside of yourself, when the going gets tough you'll be able to pull on that reserve."
Another K-State memory Hall pointed out as a personally "defining moment" took place off the basketball court. As a leader and one of the founding members of the Black Student Union, Hall joined a protest at a football game to bring light to racial issues at the time.
"That was a very challenging experience for me," he said. "I was risking my scholarship, risking my reputation as an athlete to engage in that type of public protest, but it was because of something that I believed in and, though I had a lot of anxiety around doing that, that experience stayed with me."
Hall, obviously, did not lose his scholarship and finished his career as one of the best forwards in program history. In a few weeks, he will join his former teammate, Lon Kruger, in the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame, among a host of other Wildcats that raised Hall's eyebrows when he found out he was going in.
"It is a very impressive list," Hall said, "so to be included in that list of other outstanding athletes is certainly very special."
Adding to Hall's return, he said, is the fact that K-State's men's basketball team will be coming to his new home for the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam in November. Last season, the tournament was unable to be hosted in the Virgin Islands because of damage from hurricane season. Hall said he looks forward to resuming the honor of hosting and doing so with his alma mater in the field.
"That is special. This will be a major celebration because we're now able to host this tournament again. To have the Kansas State men's basketball team be a participant this year as we start it over and in the same year which I am inducted into the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame just makes it extremely special," he said. "I'm looking forward to having them here on campus. They can rest assured that if they don't bring any other fans to Paradise Jam, they will have one in the stands rooting for their success."
David Hall is at an age where most people's college years are fading, in terms of memory and connection. Yet, while it's been 50 years since Hall first stepped on K-State's campus, both remain strong for the former men's basketball standout.
In 2016, Hall, now the president of the University of the Virgin Islands, was invited to be part of a Landon Lecture Series panel discussion on higher education. This June, the Wildcat alum was announced as part of the nine-person K-State Athletics Hall of Fame class, which will be officially inducted the weekend of September 27-29.
"The fact that both of these have happened at this stage in my life, and so close to each other, has really elevated my relationship to Kansas State," Hall, who played at K-State from 1969-72, said. "I entered into K-State Athletics about 50 years ago in a stage of my life where I didn't know what the future would hold, and to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of Kansas State Athletics, which is an outstanding athletic program nationally, is a special honor to me."
Hall was obviously a special player at K-State.
Despite only playing three years — freshmen were not allowed to compete in games then — he still ranks third on K-State's career rebounding list with 827, fourth in double-doubles (30) and double-digit scoring games (36) and sixth in rebounding average (10.1). Not to mention Hall helped K-State win a pair of Big Eight championships in the 1969-70 and 1971-72 seasons.
Hall said he's carried these experiences with him, both as memories and as lessons for life. Notably, he said his leadership abilities truly developed on the basketball court.
"I've been an academics leader at quite a number of institutions, from law schools to other universities, and I think that being forced to have to be a leader on the court and with other men who are also striving to be leaders, that provides you with some insightful lessons about what leadership is all about," he said. "So much of the success that I believe I've had as an academic leader is my ability to work well in a team and to lead a team. Being an athlete at K-State, and certainly in high school, taught me much about how to work well in a team and appreciate other people's strengths, and to make sure that your strengths are fitting well with that of others."
Following his career at K-State, Hall received his master's degree in human relations and doctor of jurisprudence (JD) from the University of Oklahoma, along with an L.L.M. degree and a doctorate of juridical science (SJD) from Harvard Law School. He then taught law for more than 25 years between stops at the University of Mississippi, the University of Oklahoma and Northeastern University.
His passion for higher education led him to become the dean of Northeastern University's law school, and then to the provost and senior vice president for the entire university — he was the first African-American to hold both positions. In 2009, he became UVI's president.
Hall's road to this point was not always smooth. Again, he said his experiences at K-State prepared him for the challenges he's encountered.
One specific example from K-State Hall referenced was from his sophomore season. It was his second game in a Wildcat uniform, at Creighton, and K-State struggled in the first half. Nothing seemed to work, he said.
Cotton Fitzsimmons, K-State's coach at the time and the man who recruited Hall to Manhattan, addressed the team at halftime with what's now a cliché phrase. Hall had never heard it, however.
"Cotton Fitzsimmons said to us, 'When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.' That stuck with me and it was meaningful because I felt what he was saying at that particular time is there's something inside of you as players that when you face a tremendous challenge, you have what it takes to overcome it," Hall said. "Certainly, that ended up being something that played itself out the rest of that year because we went on to win the Big Eight championship, went to the Midwest Regional (Semifinals) and we were tested throughout that whole process. We, for the most part, came through. We didn't win it all, but we certainly had a successful season.
"More importantly, that statement stayed with me in regards to life, that if you have something inside of yourself, when the going gets tough you'll be able to pull on that reserve."
Another K-State memory Hall pointed out as a personally "defining moment" took place off the basketball court. As a leader and one of the founding members of the Black Student Union, Hall joined a protest at a football game to bring light to racial issues at the time.
"That was a very challenging experience for me," he said. "I was risking my scholarship, risking my reputation as an athlete to engage in that type of public protest, but it was because of something that I believed in and, though I had a lot of anxiety around doing that, that experience stayed with me."
Hall, obviously, did not lose his scholarship and finished his career as one of the best forwards in program history. In a few weeks, he will join his former teammate, Lon Kruger, in the K-State Athletics Hall of Fame, among a host of other Wildcats that raised Hall's eyebrows when he found out he was going in.
"It is a very impressive list," Hall said, "so to be included in that list of other outstanding athletes is certainly very special."
Adding to Hall's return, he said, is the fact that K-State's men's basketball team will be coming to his new home for the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam in November. Last season, the tournament was unable to be hosted in the Virgin Islands because of damage from hurricane season. Hall said he looks forward to resuming the honor of hosting and doing so with his alma mater in the field.
"That is special. This will be a major celebration because we're now able to host this tournament again. To have the Kansas State men's basketball team be a participant this year as we start it over and in the same year which I am inducted into the Kansas State Athletics Hall of Fame just makes it extremely special," he said. "I'm looking forward to having them here on campus. They can rest assured that if they don't bring any other fans to Paradise Jam, they will have one in the stands rooting for their success."
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