Malik Hall undecided on return, but will enjoy a well-deserved senior day

East Lansing, Mich. – Michigan State (18-11, 10-8) will honor four seniors during its final home game of the season against Ohio State (13-17, 5-14) on Saturday (12:00 p.m., ESPN).

Malik Hall, Jason Whitens and Tyson Walker will be recognized on Saturday in front of the Breslin Center crowd. Joey Hauser will not walk in the post game ceremony because he did so last year.

Hall and Walker can both return using the extra year of eligibility granted to them due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hauser can come back by applying for a medical hardship waiver. Hall’s situation is particularly unique, though, given that a foot injury has limited him throughout much of this year.

Hall has a decision to make, but it won’t come until the end of the season. 

“I haven’t made any firm decision yet,” Hall said. “I’m just trying to make it through the end of the season, to be honest. It’s what’s most important and foremost on my mind, obviously.” 

It’s a difficult decision to make, and this new age of college basketball only complicates things for players in Hall’s position. At the end of the year, Hall will likely have to weigh his chances of playing beyond college, if he chooses to at all. Assuming that Hall’s end goal is to make money playing basketball once he leaves Michigan State, the forward might ask himself if the league he plays in – whether it be the NBA or an overseas league – will pay as much as his potential NIL earnings next year. 

Michigan State’s finish to this season will also determine a lot. Many players forgo the NBA Draft or other post-collegiate options because they feel they have “unfinished business” to take care of at school. If Michigan State falls short of its goals this postseason, perhaps Hall likes the Spartans’ chances next year with him on the roster. 

Luckily for Hall, Hauser went through this process last season. It’s likely that Hall will talk with Hauser about the benefits of returning to school. Hauser has had a career-best season, but that’s not always a guarantee. 

“I always kind of try and look at people that have been in my situation or have been in a similar aspect just to make sure I can make the best informed decision I possibly can,” Hall said. 

Hall is the only member of this year’s senior class that began their career at Michigan State. Being a four-year player means a lot within head coach Tom Izzo’s program. It usually comes with some hardware, too. 

Hall won a Big Ten regular season championship his freshman year in 2020, but with the pandemic beginning shortly after, Hall has only had one opportunity to play in a normal NCAA tournament with fans in the stadium.  

Between his freshman year getting cut short due to COVID-19, the pauses and abnormalities of the season to follow, his foot injury this season and the tragedy that took place on Michigan State’s campus just over two weeks ago, Hall has been through a lot since he arrived in East Lansing as a mild-mannered 18 year-old. 

“I was thinking about that the other day,” Hall said. “The experiences that I’ve had here in my four years, I feel like, are probably some of the craziest that anybody’s had in their time at Michigan State. I definitely find it interesting, but there’s a lot of lessons that I’ve learned throughout everything that’s gone on. Not even just inside the program, but life in general.”

“I would say Malik Hall has been through it all,” Izzo said. “Joey’s been through most of it too. That Covid stuff, you figure that one summer – I said that about Rocket (Watts) – nobody got to practice, nobody got to work out. You lose a lot in that. Guys that need to get better and guys that are gym rats – like Hauser, like Rocket, Malik’s a gym rat – all of a sudden they don’t get to do the same things, or work. It stunts your growth, it stunts your development. I think all the guys around the country have been through a lot with that.”

Hall has made up for that lost time over the past two seasons. He’s averaging a career-best 9.4 points per game, along with 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists this year, albeit in less games due to injury. Hall has played well in the time he’s been on the court and has proven his value while off of it. He’s a versatile forward that provides Michigan State with another scoring option and some defensive ability.

But Hall has missed 11 games this season, and started only four. He has worked diligently over the past few weeks to get back into game shape both mentally and physically. Ideally, though, he would have enjoyed even greater production and growth over an injury-free season. 

“I wouldn’t say I’m frustrated,” Hall said. “I would say I’m upset about it, or I was kind of sad about it. I wouldn’t say it was frustration. Obviously I couldn’t really change anything that happened. I just tried to use it as a learning experience and gain as much knowledge while I was out. It obviously is upsetting that I didn’t get to play as much, but things happen.”

Hall is happy with the progress he’s made in his recovery thus far, and knows he still has room to grow.

“I think I’m definitely getting closer and closer every day,” Hall said. “I wouldn’t say I’m more so going the opposite way. I’m definitely closer to 100 percent than I’ve been in the past, so it’s definitely something I’m happy about.”

Whether or not the injury is a serious factor in his return next season remains to be seen. But if Hall finishes this year on an upward trajectory, the thought of proving himself over another full season could start to weigh in.

“It’s definitely something that I’ve got to think about, but I’ve always got to back myself too,” Hall said. “Either way it goes, just making sure I’m confident in myself even if I didn’t get to have the year I wanted.”

Hall, who will be close to finishing his Master’s degree by the end of the semester, is still trying to make sense of the time that’s gone by. Four years in the blink of an eye, made even more sudden with the interruptions caused by the pandemic. 

“It definitely goes by really fast,” Hall said. “It doesn’t feel like quite yesterday was my freshman year, but I can still remember mostly everything. It definitely is crazy.”

Hall’s family will be in attendance Saturday, there to walk him to center court during the post game ceremony. Hall admitted that his emotions will likely get the best of him in that moment. No one can blame him. Even if Hall chooses to return for an extra season, he’s been through a lot in his four years at Michigan State. Hall will enjoy that special moment which he deserves, and then decide what the future holds for him after the season. 

Should he choose to leave, Hall hopes his Michigan State legacy will be defined by one thing. 

“I just hope they remember me for being a good person, to be honest,” Hall said. “All that other stuff is cool, but as long as people can look back and be like, ‘He was a good guy. He treated everybody nicely. He never acted too big for the situation he was in.’ Things like that. I feel like that’s the most important thing to me, to be honest.”