Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 6, 1994 TAG: 9405060033
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By BOB TEITLEBAUM STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Hall was hired Thursday as the new football coach at Bassett High School, replacing Bobby Martin, who resigned last fall.
Martin had to make a choice between continuing as head football or head basketball coach, and the former Virginia Tech football player chose to continue as basketball coach.
Bassett also appointed girls' basketball coach Lisa Black to be the school's athletic director. Black, one of Timesland's most successful girls' coaches the past few years, will continue to coach the Bengals, who were Piedmont District champions this past season.
Black takes over the athletic director's duties for interim athletic director Richard Cobb, the Henry County Supervisor of Social Studies and Physical Education.
Hall, defensive coordinator at Gar-Field this past season, was widely rumored to be in line for Bassett's football job. He earlier had applied for positions at Patrick Henry and Franklin County.
Hall said during his earlier attempts at landing a job in Timesland that he wanted to raise his son, then 6 years old and now 11, in Southwestern Virginia.
"I like that area. It's one where people take a lot of pride in their schools and rally around things," Hall said. "I was looking for a head job - not just a head job at any place but one that has potential. I think Bassett has that.
"Now the task is to get the job done. The challenge is ahead. Getting in the door is one thing, but you have get the program going, make things happen and win some games."
Bassett principal Leon Gunter likes the knowledge Hall offers.
"I think the main thing that stood out was Jim's experience. He's had a variety of experience on the pro, college and high school level. He has a considerable knowledge of the game. He's also coached on both sides of the ball," he said.
Hall has been an assistant head coach at Gar-Field since 1989. The Indians won the 1990 Group AAA Division 6 state championship and went 36-10 the past four years.
Hall also was the head coach at Bishop Ireton, a private school in Alexandria, and at Washington and Lee-Montross, a Group A school in Northern Virginia where his teams were 14-7.
On the college level, he was an assistant at Tennessee and at Newport News Apprentice. He was a graduate assistant at Grambling State in Louisiana.
Hall also was an assistant coach of the old West Virginia Rockets, a minor-league pro team.
Fieldale-Collinsville, which is seeking a football coach and athletic director, will not learn who will take over those jobs until next week when the Henry County Board of Education completes a meeting that was not finished Thursday.
Richard Savedge, who resigned those positions after the season last year, reapplied for both jobs and may have the inside track.
by CNB