By Danny Waldo
From the moment senior Tyler Hall set foot on the Montana State campus, you could tell there was something special about him. Hall proceeded to live up to the hype, earning Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year after averaging better than 19 points per game.
Hall dropped in 578 points in his freshman campaign, arguably the best freshman season in Bobcat history, and he hasn’t stopped scoring since. As the points continued to pile on Hall began shooting up the record books for offensive prowess until recently Hall etched his name in the top of the Bobcat record book for scoring, passing Larry Chanay atop the list at 2,038 points after helping MSU to a 95-90 victor over Pac-12 foe Washington State in early December.
Chanay’s record had stood for 59 years, and with over the half the season remaining, Hall figures to put major distance between himself and any future challengers in breaking his record anytime soon.
Not only is Hall the scoring leader for Bobcat basketball, he figures to leave MSU as the most prolific scorer in the history of the Big Sky Conference, in addition to holding the record for most three-pointers in league history as well.
None of this would have been possible had Hall not decided to return to MSU for his senior season. The Rock Island, Illinois native tested the NBA waters last spring, and nobody would have blamed him had he not returned to Bozeman, but the news was not to Hall’s liking, so he returned to the Bobcats with the hopes of improving his professional options, in addition to taking MSU back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1996.
For while scoring has come easy for Hall since coming to MSU in the fall of 2015, wins have not. In his three seasons in Bozeman, Hall and company have yet to make it past the opening game of the Big Sky Conference tournament. In his final go around in the Blue and Gold, Hall is hoping to change that story and leave more than just a scoring mark on the Bobcat program.
If Hall can somehow manage to help MSU win the Big Sky and earn a bid to the NCAA tournament, then he surely will go down as the greatest to ever suit up for the Blue and Gold.
