Youngstown -- Steve Hall, who spent the last four seasons at Duquesne, has been named assistant coach on the men's basketball staff, Youngstown State Head Coach Jerry Slocum announced.
Hall replaces Byron Thorne, who left in March to pursue business opportunities outside of basketball.
Hall, one of the most highly decorated high school coaches in the Detroit area in the 2000s, helped Duquesne to three postseason tournaments, including the NIT in 2008-09, the first round of the CBI in 2009-10 and the quarterfinals of the CBI in 2010-11.
"We are glad to have Steve join our program," Slocum said. "He is a quality person and has a proven track record of recruiting and coaching basketball players."
Hall felt joining the YSU staff was a great fit for him and that the program is on the upswing.
"It is apparent that Youngstown State is making great strides and being a factor in the Horizon League," Hall said. "With many of the components from last year's team back, I'm excited to get started and help us improve even more.
"I really respect the manner Coach Slocum and his staff does things – with integrity. I felt joining the Youngstown State staff was a good fit for me and I am elated to join the Penguin family."
In 2011-12, Hall mentored All-Atlantic-10 Third-Team and All-Defensive Team selection T.J. McConnell. McConnell averaged 11.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game.
The Detroit, Mich., native, who won Class D state titles at Detroit Rogers in 2003, 2004 and 2005, came to Duquesne after leading Detroit Northwestern to its first Detroit Public School League (PSL) championship since 1978 in 2008.
Hall was also named coach of the year by both the Detroit News and Detroit Free Press in 2008. He was also named Coach of the Year by the Detroit News in 2002 and 2005 and Basketball Coaches Association of Michigan (BCAM) Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2004.
In addition, he was the 2002 Detroit Public School League Coach of the Year. He is one of the youngest members of the BCAM exclusive 200-win club. While coaching in the high school ranks, Hall put his knowledge of Great Lakes State basketball to work by serving as the state of Michigan editor for Hoop Scoop from 2005-08.
Hall, who has worked as a staff coach at Five-Star Camps at Robert Morris University in suburban Pittsburgh, was a standout player for Detroit's Cass Tech in the late 1980s where he set school scoring records for points in a career and points in a season.
A consensus all-state player, he was named the Detroit High School Player of the Year by both the Detroit Free Press and Detroit Public School League Coaches Association in leading the state of Michigan in scoring with a 30.7 ppg. scoring average in 1988.
The eighth-place finisher in the voting for Michigan's Mr. Basketball, Hall began his collegiate playing career at the University of Washington (1989 and 1990) where he was an honorable-mention PAC-10 All-Freshman pick for head coach Andy Russo.
A two-year starter for the Huskies, Hall was the team's second-leading assist man as a sophomore under Lynn Nance. He then transferred to Virginia Tech where he was a two-year starter (1992 and 1993) and 1993 team co-captain under Bill Foster. He led the Hokies in 3-pointers made, 3-point percentage and 3-pointers in a game as a junior.
Hall averaged 26.7 points per game during a three-year professional career in Brazil, the Philippines, Australia and Switzerland from 1994-96 before beginning his teaching and coaching career in Detroit in 1996.
Hall, who is single, completed his undergraduate degree in communication and marketing at Virginia Tech in 1993. He added a master's degree in sports administration from Wayne State in 1998.
