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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Senior captain Marquis Hall has been chosen as a candidate for the 2009-10 Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award, presented annually to an NCAA Division I student-athlete in nine sports. Hall is one of 60 basketball players from around the country who was chosen (30 male and 30 female). Based on criteria focusing on the “Four C’s” of classroom, character, community and competition, the award winners will be selected by national balloting of head basketball coaches, national media and college basketball fans. Lowe’s, an official corporate partner of the NCAA, will present the winners with trophies during the weekends of the respective NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Four. Hall is the second men’s basketball student-athlete from Lehigh to receive this honor after Matt Szalachowski ’09 was named a candidate last year.
A three-time captain for the Brown and White, Hall has had quite an accomplished career at Lehigh, which includes two major awards from the Patriot League and three All-League selections. The 2007 Patriot League Rookie of the Year Hall enters his senior season with 1,151 career points and 379 assists. Hall was named a Freshman Mid-Major All-America in 2007 after starting 30 games and averaging 10.9 points and 4.3 assists. The Oregon native earned a league record eight consecutive Rookie of the Week honors from the P.L., won the award nine times overall and was named to the All-Rookie Team.
During his sophomore season Hall averaged 14.1 points and started all 29 games en route to earning Second-Team All-League laurels. Hall netted a career-best 29 points at Colgate that season and led the Mountain Hawks in assists 19 times. Last year Hall was named Lehigh’s first-ever Patriot League Scholar Athlete of the Year in men’s basketball while also earning First-Team All-League status. A finance major, Hall averaged 13.9 points and 5.1 rebounds as a junior and broke out for 28 points and a career-best 15 rebounds in Lehigh’s victory over Big East foe Rutgers. Hall surpassed the 1,000-point plateau in a win over archrival Lafayette and enters his senior year having started 88 of 89 career contests. He was also a nominee for the 2009 Bob Cousy Award given annually to the nation’s top point guard in college basketball.
Off the court Hall is a multi-year member of the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and the Dean’s List and he carries a 3.40 grade point average. Hall, a 2009 ESPN the Magazine First-Team Academic All-District selection, is also involved in Lehigh’s award-winning C.O.A.C.H. program and is a two-time recipient of the Arthur Ashe, Jr. Sports Scholar award.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School (CLASS), the award was launched during the 2001-02 season to honor the attributes of college basketball seniors who remain committed to their university and pursue the many rewards that a senior season and complete college education brings. From each of the two lists of 30 nominees, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award in late January 2010. Those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot for a nationwide vote. In addition to voting by Division I head basketball coaches and national media, college basketball fans will also be able to submit ballots by text voting or on-line at www.seniorclassaward.com.
Hall and the Mountain Hawks open their 2009-10 schedule on Friday, November 13 when they travel to Virginia to take on the Spiders of Richmond. Tip-off is set for 7:00 and Matt Markus will call the game on ESPN Radio 1230 and 1320 as well as Lehighsports.com. Pre-game coverage gets underway at 6:30.
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