CHICAGO (March 26, 2020) — In its 35th year of honoring the nation’s best high school athletes, The Gatorade Company, today announced P.J. Hall of Dorman High School as its 2019-20 Gatorade South Carolina Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Hall is the first Gatorade South Carolina Boys Basketball Player of the Year to be chosen from Dorman High School.
The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguishes Hall as South Carolina’s best high school boys basketball player. Now a finalist for the prestigious Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year award, Hall joins an elite alumni association of past state boys basketball award winners, including Karl-Anthony Towns (2012-13 & 2013-14, St. Joseph High School, N.J.), Dwight Howard (2003-04, Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, Ga.), Chris Bosh (2001-02, Lincoln High School, Texas), Paul Pierce (1994-95, Inglewood High School, Calif.), Chauncey Billups (1993-94 & 1994-95, George Washington High School, Colo.) and Jason Kidd (1991-92, St. Joseph Notre Dame High School, Calif.).
The 6-foot-10, 230-pound senior forward led the Cavaliers (30-1) to their fourth straight Class 5A state title this past season. Hall averaged 14.9 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.8 blocks, shooting 53.3 percent from the field for the Cavaliers, who will play in the GEICO High School Nationals April 2. A First-Team All-State selection in 2019, Hall is ranked as the nation’s No. 42 recruit in the Class of 2020 by ESPN.
Hall’s sister, Thayer, was a three-time Gatorade South Carolina Volleyball Player of the Year as well as the 2017-18 Gatorade National Player of the Year. A standout baseball pitcher, Hall has volunteered locally with Samaritan’s Feet, a non-profit organization that provides shoes to underprivileged children. He has also donated his time serving meals at the Spartanburg Soup Kitchen and has served as part of an elementary school literacy outreach initiative. “P.J. has got that ‘it’ factor,” said Layne Fowler, head coach at Byrnes High. “He was so impactful on both ends of the floor this year.”
Hall has maintained a 3.94 weighted GPA in the classroom. He has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball on scholarship at Clemson University this fall.
Hall joins Gatorade South Carolina Boys Basketball Players of the Year Josiah James (2018-19, Porter-Gaud School), Aaron Nesmith (2017-18, Porter-Gaud School), Jalek Felton (2016-17, Gray Collegiate Academy), Joseph Battle (2015-16, Abbeville High School), and P.J. Dozier (2014-15, Spring Valley High School) among the state’s list of former award winners.
The Gatorade Player of the Year program annually recognizes one winner in the District of Columbia and each of the 50 states that sanction high school football, girls volleyball, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls soccer, baseball, softball, and boys and girls track & field, and awards one National Player of the Year in each sport. The selection process is administered by the Gatorade Player of the Year Selection Committee, which work with top sport-specific experts and a media advisory board of accomplished, veteran prep sports journalists to determine the state winners in each sport.
The 2019-2020 Gatorade National Boys Basketball Player of the Year announcement has been temporarily postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. To ensure the safety of everyone involved, The Gatorade Company will follow the guidance of experts and health officials as it determines the appropriate time to announce this year’s winner.
As a part of Gatorade’s cause marketing platform “Play it Forward,” Hall also has the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a local or national youth sports organization of his choosing. He is also eligible to submit an essay to win one of twelve $10,000 spotlight grants for the organization of choice, which will be announced throughout the year.
Since the program’s inception in 1985, Gatorade Player of the Year award recipients have won hundreds of professional and college championships, and many have also turned into pillars in their communities, becoming coaches, business owners and educators.
To learn more about the Gatorade Player of the Year program, check out past winners or to nominate student-athletes, visit www.Gatorade.com/POY, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GatoradePOY or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Gatorade.
