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Bruins Hire Paul Hall

"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Western Branch High School in Chesapeake didn't have to
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go far to find its new Head Basketball Coach.
They lured someone from one of their Southeastern District rivals.
style=>
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Paul
Hall,
formerly an assistant and the Head J.V. Coach at Nansemond River High School in
Suffolk, has been chosen to lead the Bruins' basketball program starting in
2014-15. For Hall, it is his second gig
as a Head Coach and first in 13 years.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Hall, 43, was the Head Coach at Windsor from
1996-2001. After that, he became an
assistant for varsity Girls Basketball in 2003-04 at Nansemond River, then
moving over to the Boys Basketball program.
While Hall was on Coach Ed Young's
staff for 10 years, the Warriors compiled a record of 198-59.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"The main reason I stayed at Nansemond was I really
enjoyed coaching with Ed. He gave me a
lot of freedom, a lot of time to re-fine my skills and get back into the game
because I hadn't been coaching for two years before I took the J.V. job," Hall
told VirginiaPreps.com.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"That was the tough part, actually leaving Nansemond
because it's like family. Ed is like a
brother to me, so it was tough leaving and even tougher telling him.
style=> I'm not unhappy or dissatisfied with
anything, but I wanted the opportunity to be a Head Coach again and get that feeling
again. If not now, when?"
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>A 1988 graduate of Smithfield High School, Hall played College
Football at the University of Richmond.
From there, he got into coaching, but it wasn't first with
basketball. He was the J.V. Football
Coach at Windsor in 1995 when he began teaching, and later served as a varsity
football assistant at Nansemond River.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>During his time at Windsor, Hall was able to guide them
to the playoffs. At Nansemond River, he
was content teaching and being an assistant as well as J.V. Coach, though told
himself when the timing was right he would consider applying for a Head Coach vacancy,
only if appealing.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I'm a loyal type guy and I had always told Coach Young
that if a good opportunity presented itself I would at least give it a chance,"
Hall noted. "I saw Western Branch as a
team that was up and coming. They've got
a lot of support, their Bruin Crazies are very similar to what we've got at
Nansemond River, and the demographics in the area are similar to Nansemond.
style=> It was a situation where I felt I could be
successful there."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>At Western Branch, Hall replaces
normal'>Chris Fuhrmann, who left to become the
Head Coach at Hampton Roads Academy. Last
season, the Bruins finished 11-12 overall and fell to Grassfield, 53-50 in the
quarterfinals of the Monitor-Merrimac Conference Tournament.
style=> However, they had consecutive winning seasons
prior to that, going 18-9 overall in 2012-13 with a region playoff victory and
16-9 overall in 2011-12.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>As for what Western Branch fans can expect,
fundamentals will be stressed along with some of the same principles that have
worked for Nansemond River.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I'm going to stick to my same philosophy.
style=> My style is man-to-man, aggressive defense,
dribble drive offense trying to score and get easy buckets," Hall stated.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I always tell my kids we have to do three things in
order to win. We have to make more
free-throws than the other team, which means we're aggressive attacking the
bucket. We have to have fewer turnovers
than the other team; that means we're playing smart offensively.
style=> And we've got to get lay-ups; that means we're
running. If you do those three things,
you're going to win. If you don't do
those three things, nine times out of ten you're not going to win the game."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'> 
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none;text-underline:
none'>Matthew Hatfield
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>
serves as State Basketball Analyst for
href="http://www.virginiapreps.com">
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>VirginiaPreps.com
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>, part of the Rivals.com
Network. Check out
href="http://www.twitter.com/hatfieldsports">
normal'>
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Hatfield's Twitter page
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'> for more sports related updates,
and you can also read his work in the
href="http://www.suffolknewsherald.com">
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Suffolk News Herald
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>.
To contact Matthew, please e-mail
href="mailto:hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com">
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>, and don't forget to listen to him
on High School Sports Talk from 10AM to Noon on
href="http://www.espnradio941.com/">
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>ESPN Radio 94.1
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>, plus watch him on the
href="http://www.cox11.com">
style='font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Cox 11 Sports Report
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normal'>
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