Player: PJ Hall
Class: Junior
Last Year’s Stats: Last year, Hall was off the charts, leading the Tigers in several categories. He finished the season playing in 30 games while averaging an impressive 15.5 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and shooting 49.3 percent from the floor.
The rise of PJ Hall in the last two years has been fun to watch. Coming out of high school, one could see that this young man had the talent to do some great things at Clemson but he has quickly risen up the rankings and is now one of the premier players representing the ACC. After a strong freshman career, Hall took advantage of the situation ahead of him, replacing some key guys and really giving people a glimpse of how effective he could be.
As a sophomore, he was extremely productive, averaging over 15 points per game in just about 27 minutes of action. He also made tremendous strides in getting stronger, finishing well, showing more of his footwork and feel in the paint, and improved in his outside shooting (13.8 percent from three as a freshman to 30.8 percent from three last season). The Tigers really needed him to step up and he did, as he ranked high in several categories nationally and in the ACC. Hall was a go-to player for Clemson offensively but in the number of minutes he received, he was strong on the offensive and defensive rebounding in ACC play (ranked 23rd in offensive rebounding percentage and 24th in defensive rebounding percentage). He also ranked 11th in block percentage as well in conference play according to Kenpom.
Though Hall won’t be sneaking up on anyone this year, it will be interesting to see where his game continues to improve with a bigger target on his back and if he could potentially make a run at Player of the Year in the ACC.