Keyshawn Hall’s next move is suddenly one of the more intriguing swings still on the board.
After helping Auburn win the NIT Championship this past season, Hall’s year still ended with more frustration than momentum. He was suspended and benched by Steven Pearl, entered the NBA draft, went undrafted, and then tried to carve out a place in Summer League.
That didn’t stick either. Hall played five games, struggled to adjust to NBA action, and never landed with the Miami Heat full-time or with another team in the league.
Now he’s back in the college market, and there’s real buzz around him. Hall received a fifth year of eligibility in July through an injunction in a lawsuit in Ohio, the same legal path that also granted eligibility to Xavier forward Filip Borovicanin and Cincinnati guard MJ Collins. His case may have gotten another boost from a Colorado judge’s injunction this past week that granted blanket eligibility for the 2022 high school class.
The interest is already there. Kentucky, St.
John’s, Indiana, and Kansas are among the programs targeting Hall, according to CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein. Gonzaga, SMU, LSU, Providence, and UCF are also in the mix, with UCF notable because that’s where Hall played the season before Auburn.
Among the four biggest names chasing him, St. John’s stands out as the cleanest fit.
Kentucky has a loaded $21 million roster and probably doesn’t need the kind of volatility Hall can bring. Indiana is trying to build stability, and Hall is the sort of player who comes with baggage along with production. Kansas, meanwhile, has already spent a season dealing with Darryn Peterson’s melodrama and doesn’t exactly need another high-wire act after its Round of 32 exit in March.
Rick Pitino, though, is built for this kind of player. He has the kind of hard-edged, no-nonsense style that could mesh with Hall in a way others might not.
There’s even a version of this where Pitino’s approach and Hall’s personality make for a perfect fit. Hall may not have responded well to Steven Pearl, who was not the head coach when Hall signed with Auburn, and if there was anyone who felt most burned by Bruce’s bait-and-switch, it was probably Hall.
He went there hoping to create an NBA launching pad and instead became Steven’s first locker-room example.
That’s the larger story here: Hall has been chasing the move that puts him in the best possible position for the next level.
Auburn was supposed to be that move. It wasn’t.
But this is still his last real shot to convince NBA teams he belongs. Playing at Madison Square Garden would give him a big stage to rebuild his reputation, but wherever he ends up, the urgency is obvious.
The NCAA is likely going to make sure he doesn’t get a sixth school in 2027-28, which makes this almost certainly his final season of eligibility.
The next decision is huge for Hall. His future depends on getting this one right.
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