P.J. Hall – Syndication Server

8 former Vikings getting another shot in the XFL

The XFL returns on Saturday and there are multiple former Vikings that will be suiting up

One of the best parts of football in the 21st century is that it doesn’t end with the Super Bowl. The National Football League has done a such a great job making football a year-round thing that we now have two spring leagues.

The first one is the relaunch of the XFL which has their kickoff game on Saturday between the Las Vegas Vipers and Arlington Renegades — it’ll be broadcast nationally on ABC, beginning at 2 p.m. CT.

For Minnesota Vikings fans, they will have eight different Vikings that are playing in the XFL across five different teams. Here is the full list:

Clemson star calls in to Packer and Durham, updates rehab

A Clemson standout called in to the Packer and Durham show on ACC Network on Thursday. The Clemson basketball team’s leading scorer from the 2021-22 season, forward/center PJ Hall, phoned in to the show with Mark Packer and Wes Durham after hearing …

A Clemson standout called in to the Packer and Durham show on ACC Network on Thursday.

The Clemson basketball team’s leading scorer from the 2021-22 season, forward/center PJ Hall, phoned in to the show with Mark Packer and Wes Durham after hearing the news Wednesday that the program will be taken off the air at the end of this week.

“I heard the news and I had to call in and say what’s up, y’all,” Hall said.

“I know why you’re calling — you want to host the show now,” Packer joked. “I know how it goes.”

“I’ve put my application in,” Hall joked back.

“It’s going to be called ‘Hall and Durham,’ is what it’s now going to be called moving forward,” Packer said.

On a more serious note, during the call, Hall gave an update on his rehab following the foot surgery he underwent earlier this offseason.

As evidenced by multiple social media posts, Hall is out of the walking boot he initially wore after having surgery to repair a fracture in the fourth metatarsal of his left foot. He posted a story to his Instagram account in early June that showed the 6-foot-10, 240-pounder doing some simulated running for the first time since the operation in March.

“It’s feeling good. I’ve been sprinting a little bit, doing more rehab,” Hall said to Packer and Durham. “So, it was just a slow process to be able to get back up and doing more basketball stuff. Forever it was like you were on one foot, shooting one-foot hooks and barely walking around. So now that I’m running around more, I can jump. I’ve been doing semi-basketball workouts. So, it’s definitely coming along, but it was slow, for sure.”

Hall averaged a team-high 15.5 points despite dealing with painful flareups throughout last season, earning all-ACC honorable mention honors.

You can watch Hall’s call to Packer and Durham below:

"PJ in South Carolina" called in to #PackerAndDurham today 🤣🤣🤣@pjhall020 / @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/iGKvP3eJB7

— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) June 30, 2022

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Brownell gives injury update on PJ Hall

The Clemson Insider caught up with Clemson men’s basketball head coach Brad Brownell on Thursday evening at the Prowl & Growl event in Aiken, S.C. TCI asked Brownell what the status of the Tigers’ leading scorer last season, PJ Hall, will be this …

The Clemson Insider caught up with Clemson men’s basketball head coach Brad Brownell on Thursday evening at the Prowl & Growl event in Aiken, S.C.

TCI asked Brownell what the status of the Tigers’ leading scorer last season, PJ Hall, will be this summer.

Hall recently underwent surgery on his left foot, which caused pain that forced Clemson’s sophomore center in and out of the lineup late during this past season.

As TCI reported last month, Hall — who averaged a team-best 15.5 points despite dealing with painful flareups throughout the season — got an official diagnosis from doctors, who eventually discovered a fracture in his fourth metatarsal of his left foot.

Brownell gave an injury update on Hall at the Prowl & Growl on Thursday and said the Tigers’ big man is “going to be out for a while.”

“He’s going to be out for a while,” Brownell said. “It’s a little disappointing, because would love to have another offseason like we did with him last year where he was able to change his body and really become a high-level player. But he needed the rest.

“He’ll be out primarily until middle of July, I would expect. He may be able to do a few things, but it’s going to be a while before he can really get going and play like we need him to play. But that’s OK. He’s deserved the time off, and we just need to make sure he’s healthy when we get him back.”

It’s an injury that Hall has been dealing with since his prep days at Spartanburg’s Dorman High, but he’s hopeful that will no longer be the case once he’s fully recovered.

“(Doctors) said it’s more common than you think and that I should never have another problem with it,” Hall said.

Congratulations! You did it! You graduated! Now is the time to preserve your diploma in a custom frame. Here at Clemson Variety & Frame, we build all our frames in-house – from the frame to the mats and etchings to the installation – to guarantee the quality. You worked hard for your degree. Trust us to show your diploma in the best light possible.

PJ Hall shows he’s a Clemson Man, comes to aid of Duke reporter

This Duke reporter has a new favorite player. That player is Clemson forward/center PJ Hall, who scored a team-high 17 points in the Tigers’ game against the Blue Devils on Thursday night at Littlejohn Coliseum. But it’s what Hall did after the game …

This Duke reporter has a new favorite player.

That player is Clemson forward/center PJ Hall, who scored a team-high 17 points in the Tigers’ game against the Blue Devils on Thursday night at Littlejohn Coliseum.

But it’s what Hall did after the game that earned the affection of Duke beat writer David Thompson.

Thompson took to Twitter and said that after the game, his car battery died outside of Littlejohn, and Hall came to Thompson’s aid, seeing that he had jumper cables and driving his car over to assist him with the car trouble.

Kudos to Hall for the act of kindness and helping Thompson out after the Tigers’ tough loss.

Not only is Hall a class act off the court, but he’s been shining on the court this season as well. His 17 points Thursday night extended his streak of scoring in double figures to 23 straight games this season. He’s averaging 15.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.

Not just trying to be “Most Improved Player”, but looks like he locked up “Most Helpful Post Game” already. @accnetwork @ClemsonMBB https://t.co/yowCk7vH6M

— Wes Durham (@WesDurham) February 11, 2022

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PJ Hall signs NIL deal with The Clemson Insider

The Clemson Insider is excited to announce a NIL (name, image and likeness) endorsement deal with PJ Hall. The Clemson basketball sophomore has signed an advertising agreement with TCI. “I am happy to have PJ signed as our third NIL deal. He is a …

The Clemson Insider is excited to announce a NIL (name, image and likeness) endorsement deal with PJ Hall.

The Clemson basketball sophomore has signed an advertising agreement with TCI.

“I am happy to have PJ signed as our third NIL deal. He is a great young man that comes from a great family,” TCI Publisher Robert MacRae said. “He is having an outstanding season, and I look forward to having PJ help us promote The Clemson Insider.”

A Spartanburg native, Hall has been one of the ACC’s most improved players in his first year as a starter for the Tigers, who are 10-5 overall and 2-2 in ACC play heading into Wednesday’s game at Notre Dame. The 6-foot-10, 240-pounder leads Clemson in scoring at 14.7 points per game while averaging 27.5 minutes. Hall averaged just 3.5 points in 9.8 minutes per game a season ago.

Hall is also averaging 6.0 rebounds after pulling down 2.8 boards a game last season. He’s shooting 47.8% from the field — tied for the 12th-highest field-goal percentage in the ACC — and 74.5% from the free-throw line.

Hall is coming off a 20-point effort in Clemson’s win at North Carolina State over the weekend, his fourth 20-point game of the season. He’s scored a career-high 22 points three times this season and 22 points and 13 rebounds in an overtime win over Drake on Dec. 11 for his first career double-double.

A consensus top-60 recruit during the 2020 recruiting cycle, Hall has been one of Brad Brownell’s biggest recruiting coups during his time as Clemson’s head coach. Hall starred at Dorman High School, where he was the 2019-20 South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year. He chose Clemson over offers from South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee among others.

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Clemson unable to overcome slow start in road loss at Rutgers

In a rematch of the opening round of last season’s NCAA Tournament, Clemson was unable to exact revenge. The Tigers fell 74-64 to Rutgers in the ACC/BIG Ten Challenge at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J. Despite David Collins turning in his …

In a rematch of the opening round of last season’s NCAA Tournament, Clemson was unable to exact revenge.

The Tigers fell 74-64 to Rutgers in the ACC/BIG Ten Challenge at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J.

Despite David Collins turning in his most impressive performance in a Clemson uniform — he recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards — the Tigers were unable to overcome an ice-cold first half, while also losing their best player to foul trouble.

While Clemson played exceptional defense throughout the course of the first half, the Tigers experienced similar struggles that have plagued them through the season’s first seven games.

Clemson went on a five-minute scoring drought in which it missed 10 consecutive shots. The Tigers finished the first frame shooting 9-of-27 from the field and 1-of-9 from beyond the arc.

What the Tigers struggled with the most was finding a way to attack Rutgers’ zone defense. While they had plenty of good looks, they just couldn’t find a way to finish.

They finally got those shots to start falling, as Clemson had a much better shooting performance in the second frame, finishing the game 23-of-59 from the field and 4-of-17 from deep.

And with just over 12 minutes remaining, they even got the lead down to just 1. Instead of letting Clemson take advantage of the momentum created, Rutgers didn’t flinch. The Scarlet Knights changed their fortunes and were able to take control of the game from there.

Nick Honor scored Clemson’s first points of the game, making a 3-point shot with 16 minutes and 50 seconds remaining in the first half. The Tigers then missed 10 straight shots from deep before Collins hit a crucial shot from the top of the key.

Al-Amir Dawes, who was held scoreless well into the second half, hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, capping off a 13-4 run.

While Clemson made its run, it’s only fair to assume that Rutgers would do the same.

In the first half, Clemson turned over the ball six times and saw three of its starters — Collins, P.J. Hall, and Hunter Tyson — all pick up two fouls in the game’s first 20 minutes.

At the beginning of the second half, Hall instantly picked up his third foul. However, Brownell left him in the game, hoping that his best player could get Clemson back into the game, and then he picked up his fourth foul shortly thereafter.

With 18:26 remaining in the game, Hall went to the bench. He didn’t re-enter the game for another 10 minutes.

After starting 2-of-9 from the field, Hall bounced back to finish with 10 points on 5-of-13 shooting. He fouled out with 4:07 remaining in the game on a foul call that was questionable, to say the least.

His absence down the stretch proved to be crucial against a physical Scarlet Knights team that has a lot of size and length.

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Turnovers, scoring droughts doom Clemson in tough loss vs. West Virginia

It happened again. After taking a commanding lead, Clemson (4-2) fell a part down the stretch with a chance to earn a resume-building win agaisnt West Virginia Behind scoring droughts and turnovers, the Tigers couldn’t get out their way, allowing …

It happened again.

After taking a commanding lead, Clemson (4-2) fell a part down the stretch with a chance to earn a resume-building win agaisnt West Virginia

Behind scoring droughts and turnovers, the Tigers couldn’t get out their way, allowing West Virgina room to rally back for an 66-59 victory in the third round of the Charleston Classic.

The Tigers led St. Bonaventure by 16 points on Friday. They also led West Virgina by 10 points on Sunday night with 14 miuntes left. They wound up losing both games.

Clemson was able to dominate Sunday’s game offensively for the first 10 minutes, but between a seven-minute scoring drought and costly mental errors — 10 turnovers — that allowed West Virginia to take a 1-point lead heading into the break.

After shooting just 2-of-11 from the field in Clemson’s 68-65 loss to No. 22 St. Bonaventure on Friday, Al-Amir Dawes bounced back.

In his postgame press conference Friday, Clemson coach Brad Brownell indicated that he gives Dawes some leniency when it comes to shot taking. While he’d obviously like the decision-making to be better at times, Clemson firmly believes that the good from Dawes outweighs the bad.

Sunday was proof of that, at least for 25 minutes of the game, as he went completely cold in the second half. Dawes scored 18 points, but he also turned over the ball six times.

His lack of offensive presnce conrtibuted to Clemson falling a part in the game’s final eight minutes.

Right out of the gate in the second half, Clemson came out firing on all cylinders. After coming out flat in for the final 20 minutes against the Bonnies on Friday, Clemson wanted to avoid a repeat of letting another winnable game slip away.

The Tigers jumped out to a 15-6 run to start off the game’s second frame. And while they were able to jump out to a 10-point lead, the Tigers had way too many empty possessions plagued by turnovers, allowing for the Mountaineers to eventually make their run.

At one point, the Tigers turned it over on five straight possessions.

Down the stretch of Sunday’s contest, P.J. Hall, Clemson’s leading scorer, and rebounder had to pull himself out of the game. Hall was clearly fatigued playing in his third game in four days. After taking a breather, he checked himself back into the game as a once-commanding 10-point lead dwindled down to just a possession.

While Hall found his way back onto the court, West Virginia took a 13-2 run to take a eventual 4-point lead at 60-56. Clemson went five miuntes without a basket.

It proved to be foretelling.

Clemson sidesteps unforced errors to rally past Wofford

Picking up where it left off, Clemson staved off Wofford for a 76-68 win Friday night at the Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson fought its way back into a game it so needed to have, avoiding a potential letdown in the process, to win its second straight …

Picking up where it left off, Clemson staved off Wofford for a 76-68 win Friday night at the Littlejohn Coliseum.

Clemson fought its way back into a game it so needed to have, avoiding a potential letdown in the process, to win its second straight game of the season.

Al-Amir Dawes put the game on ice with a clutch corner 3-pointer to give Clemson a 6-point cushion.

The game got chippy at times, but Clemson somehow managed to keep its composure. Clemson led by as many as 14 during the game’s opening frame, but the Tigers allowed Wofford to hang around in a game they had mostly dominated in every facet

In fact, Wofford took control of the game with just under 12 minutes to play. Keaton Turner executed a 3-point play to give the Terriers a 52-49 lead. Clemson didn’t panic, though. Coach Brad Brownell called a timeout and Nick Honor immediately answered with a clutch shot from beyond the arc. He celebrated empathetically and then, Clemson’s fortunes began to change.

With Hall absent, unforced turnovers and untimely scoring droughts gave way to Wofford making its run.

Hall’s effort in the first half was undeniable. Heading into the break, he had 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, he also had five defensive rebounds.

It’s why his absence was so pivotal to Clemson losing control of Friday night’s game. The offense looked stagnant without him in there, even if he scored just five second-half points. His presence alone is pivotal for a Clemson team that struggled to find answers from its second unit.

His getting into foul trouble certainly underscored what Clemson was able to accomplish on both ends of the court. The junior forward picked up his fourth foul with just 5 minutes and 42 seconds remaining in the game.

While he spent much of the game’s final minutes on the bench, he checked back in during crunch time to help seal the win for Clemson.

He finished the game with 22 points and eight boards.

While the Tigers looked a bit sloppy and missed some open shots to start off the opening frame of play, Clemson was still able to jump out to a fast start, aided by a strong first-half defensive performance and the team’s offense running through the likes of Hall and David Collins.

That, of course, persisted in the second half, but Wofford was finally able to get shots to start falling. Clemson headed into the break with a 39-31 lead after dominating the first half. Though, it wouldn’t last long.

Clemson’s defensive effort in the first and down the stretch of Friday’s game can’t be overstated. It’s what allowed the Tigers to command a lead for much of the night, even with multiple scoring droughts throughout the course of the contest. Of course, Wofford was able to claw back and make Friday’s game interesting, especially for the majority of the second half, but that had more to do with Clemson’s self-inflicted wounds.

The Tigers were plagued with some untimely fouls — they had 8 first-half team fouls — and nine turnovers. Wofford was able to score 11 points off those turnovers, which allowed the Terriers to hang around, for the most part.

Clemson turned the ball over 10 more times in the second half, for a total of 19 on the night.

Clemson crashed the boards with relative ease in the game’s first 20 minutes. The Tigers outrebounded Wofford 18-10 in the first half and finished the night with a 36-31 margin.

Speaking of defense, Clemson got a big boost from the defensive paralysis of junior guard Nick Honor. He had five steals on the night. Honor does a great job of getting his hands in passing lanes. He’s a tenacious defender, who can defend the length of the floor.

As for Collins, he looked exactly like the player Clemson thought it was getting, at least in the first half. The USF grad transfer not only showed off how physical he can be in the paint on both ends of the court but also just how good of a facilitator he can be.

Collins’ physicality and court vision will be crucial to Clemson’s success throughout the season. It certainly proved to be pivotal as that aspect of Clemson’s game on both ends of the floor disappeared in the second half.

Even with Collins and Hall not adding much offensively in the game’s second frame, the Tigers relied on Dawes, Hunter Tyson and Nick Honor to carry them home to a victory on Friday.

The trio combined for 36 of Clemson’s 76 points.

Brownell yanked Dawes from the court just less than two minutes into Friday night’s contest. While he was the hero for the Tigers in Game 1, it didn’t take long for Clemson’s coach to pull the team’s starting guard.

Dawes sat for a bit, while he watched senior guard Chase Hunter run with the 1s. After checking back in, Dawes immediately drilled a step-back 3-pointer from beyond the arc to give Clemson a 14-6 lead.

While he wasn’t as effective offensively as he was in Clemson’s season-opening victory, Dawes drilled an important 3-pointer to give Clemson a 4-point lead and some breathing room with just over 5 minutes to play.

It was almost poetic. It was a minor rundown of how the game went. Clemson fought through unforced errors and adversity to come out on top, much like Dawes.

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Clemson cruises past Georgia Southwestern State in exhibition game

After getting out to a slow start during Monday’s exhibition game against Georgia Southwestern State, Clemson’s men’s basketball was able to piece things together as the first half went on. The Tigers cruised past the Hurricanes, 77-51. While …

After getting out to a slow start during Monday’s exhibition game against Georgia Southwestern State, Clemson’s men’s basketball was able to piece things together as the first half went on.

The Tigers won handily 77, 51.

While Clemson wasn’t able to get much going offensively in the game’s first period, the Tigers In the first half, Georgia Southwestern State had 26 points on 10-of-31 shooting from the field and 3-of-9 from beyond the arc.

As for Clemson, P.J. Hall accounted for 21 of the team’s 36 points first-half points. Clemson’s offense clearly ran through the sophomore forward out of Spartanburg (S.C), as he finished Monday’s contest with 23 points in 19 minutes.

Prior to the season, Clemson coach Brad Brownell indicated that Hall would replace former Tiger Aamir Simms in the team’s starting lineup. While Monday was just an exhibition game, Hall was certainly able to show what he can do on the offensive end.

To start things off in the second half, Hall picked up where he left off. Though, it would be the only points he scored in the second period of play.

Coming out of the gate, Clemson went on a 15-1 run in the first six minutes of the second half to jump out to a 52-27 lead. At one point, Clemson’s biggest lead was at 31 when the team jumped out to a 73-42 after USF transfer David Collins knocked down an open look with just under four minutes to play.

Collins had nine points on 3-of-5 shooting, adding for rebounds and three assists in 19 minutes.

Another newcomer who impressed with his play was Ian Schieffelin He was second on the team in scoring with 13 points. He knocked down an open 3-pointer with 14:46 remaining in the game. On Clemson’s next offensive possession, the true freshman had an open look from the top of the key. He missed the shot but was able to grab his own rebound and hit a running floater.

Hunter Tyson didn’t contribute much from an offensive standpoint and while the senior forward only had four points, he accounted for seven of the team’s 46 rebounds.