PJ Hall is one of the most improved players in men’s college basketball. To some, there’s nobody in the sport more improved than Clemson’s sophomore big.
He’s done it despite dealing with an injury that’s plagued him for most of the season.
Outside of Clemson coach Brad Brownell describing it as an injury to his left foot, not many details have been disclosed about what has been ailing Hall (and for how long) or the severity. On Monday, Clemson’s leading scorer and second-leading rebounder opened up about exactly what he’s been dealing with.
“It’s some inflammation between the fourth and fifth metatarsals,” Hall said. “I had a stress reaction. I didn’t have any fractures in high school, but that’s kind of the same area that’s been flaring up. … There’s been some inflammation and some stress build-up.”
Hall said that stress reaction he dealt with as a standout at Spartanburg’s Dorman High School had not flared up on him much until about six games into this season. After the Tigers’ 10th game – an overtime win over Drake in Atlanta – it was at its worst, Hall said.
It’s essentially become a game of pain management since for Hall, whose foot has felt better some days and worse on others. Hall said it’s usually manageable unless certain plays pop up during the course of a game that put more strain on his foot than usual.
“It comes and goes,” Hall said.
It’s never been so painful that Hall hasn’t been able to finish a game. He’s averaged 14.8 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting 48% from the field through Clemson’s first 20 games, all of which he has started.
“Once I get on the court, I’ve got so much adrenaline going through my body that I don’t really feel it in the first half,” Hall said. “At halftime, once you get cooled down a little bit, you feel it. But I try not to think about it. Every now and then, I’ll have a play where it might flare up and have some pain in my foot, but it’s not as bad as it may seem.
“Play through it whenever it hurts bad. If it gets too bad, then rest it a little bit the next day. But in the game, I try not to think about it.”
A stress reaction is different than a stress fracture in that there’s no crack in the bone, though, if it goes untreated, it could eventually lead to a fracture. Hall said there could be inflammation in some of his foot ligaments as well, but he’s undergone an MRI, which he said didn’t reveal anything “too serious.”
At this point, Hall said he doesn’t envision needing corrective surgery, though he didn’t rule it out should the injury get worse with Clemson still having more than half of its ACC left to play. Hall has gotten some extra recovery time with the Tigers having eight days off between their loss at Duke last week and Wednesday’s home game against Florida State.
Clemson is trying to keep Hall off his feet as much as possible in order to get him through the entire season, significantly cutting back on his practice time. Hall said he still takes part in some shooting and passing drills, but once the Tigers begin the team portion of practice, Hall is relegated to a stationary air bike, which he credits for helping keep his legs in shape and his stamina up at this point of the season.
“Trust me, the stuff they have me do on the sideline, I actually probably get more conditioning in than at practice,” Hall said. “It’s brutal. I would much rather be practicing than the stuff I do on the sidelines. I’m fine at the end of games.”
Still, not going full speed at practice has its hindrances. Brownell said the most noticeable effect is Hall’s rhythm and timing, particularly when operating around the rim as often as the 6-foot-10, 240-pounder does.
Hall said he hasn’t been all that frustrated by the injury and that he hasn’t felt the lack of full-court work in practice has affected his lift, but Brownell isn’t so sure.
“It’s just not the same. You’re missing reps. You’re not getting as many reps,” Brownell said. “I don’t know if it’s coincidence or not that, in the Duke game, he didn’t have a very good shooting game. We got the ball to him in a lot of good places, and he normally finishes a lot more than he did. I have to remember as a coach that he’s not practicing every day.”
Hall said it may very well be an injury that he has to deal with for the rest of the season. But as long as can manage the pain and tolerate it for the time being, he said he has more than selfish reasons for wanting to keep suiting up on game day.
“Whenever people come to games, I know someone is out there coming to watch me,” Hall said. “So I go out there, I give it my best and give it my all because I don’t want someone to go home disappointed. And also I’m going out there and playing for the guy beside me.
“Whenever you’re hurting, you’ve got to fight through it. And if you can’t play and can’t contribute, then contribute on the bench and contribute with your voice.”
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