A surprise eligibility ruling opens the door for the Big 12’s former scoring leader to return home, but a massive price tag stands between Orlando and a reunion.
College sports are seeing an influx of talent eyeing a return after last Friday's court injunction gave athletes whose eligibility expired in spring a fifth year.
Keyshawn Hall, a former UCF Knight, is one athlete who could return after attempting to make the NBA.
A reunion between the two parties would be heartwarming. Hall led the Big 12 in scoring (18.8) and recorded a career-high 40 points against the Arizona State Sun Devils on Jan. 14, 2025.
He declared for last year's draft, which could've made him the fifth Knight drafted by the NBA. Instead, Hall returned to college basketball and transferred to Auburn.
The former UCF forward was attracting NIL offers of approximately $2.5, per Matt Murschel of the Orlando Sentinel. That price tag is ultimately what makes a reunion with coach Johnny Dawkins unlikely.
UCF spent approximately $3-4 million to build last season's roster that broke a six-year NCAA Tournament drought. Dawkins' talent evaluation on a limited budget earned praise from many college basketball analysts after picking up three upset wins against Kansas, Texas Tech and BYU.
Next season's squad has been filled out through the transfer portal, and the men's basketball account is posting practice clips on X. Hall would be a late addition to a program that has most likely spent most of its portal budget.
Programs like Kentucky, St. John's and LSU have much more money to offer. Kentucky (Milan Momcilovic) and St. John's (Tounde Yessofou) reportedly spent $6 million on their acquisitions, and LSU signed RJ Luis Jr., who signed professional contracts with the Utah Jazz and the Boston Celtics.
Hall tried chasing his NBA dreams this summer after a stellar season at Auburn.
He signed an Exhibit-10 contract with the Miami Heat on June 25. The 6-foot-7 forward played in the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer League, but struggled to impress Miami or other front offices.
The former Tiger totaled 16 points across five games on 33.3% from the field in 15.8 minutes. His best performance came against the Los Angeles Lakers on July 5, scoring six points on 2-for-3 shooting.
Hall is a proven scorer at the college level, but what does another season of high-level scoring mean for NBA scouts? The 23-year-old likely has reached his ceiling as a player with four years of college experience.
Bringing back the UCF alum would be a nice storyline, but the program likely doesn't have the money to pay him and brought in a talented scorer in North Carolina A&T transfer Lewis Walker.
