Thaddeus Hall holds nothing back on the court. He smiles at his opponent. He pounds his chest. He engages the crowd. He’s the picture of confidence.
Off it, he is another person, a different person few know, a talented yet troubled teenager who has battled academic woes and attendance issues resulting from an unstable household.
“That’s why I play so aggressive and with so much heart,” Thomas Jefferson’s senior star says. “I think about what I’ve been through. On the court – that’s the perfect time to get everything off my chest.”
For two of his four high school years, Hall lived in a homeless shelter in Brownsville, him, his older brother Kasheem, older sister Daniya and mother April squeezing into one room. He’s spent time in all five boroughs, even separated from April at one point.
He’s let few people into this other life, this struggle of instability that seems to have finally subsided. Coincidence or not, now that he is living close to Jefferson, living in a spacious Crown Heights brownstone with his own room, he is thriving like he has never before.
Hall, a smooth 6-foot-5 lefty with unlimited range and a candidate for Player of the Year honors in the city, has led Jefferson to its best season in ages, to its first PSAL Brooklyn AA and Brooklyn borough crowns. He has the Orange Wave within two wins of their first city championship since 1954.
St. John’s, Maryland, Texas Tech, West Virginia and South Carolina have offered him scholarships. Xavier, Fordham and Hofstra have come into the picture.
All of that, of course, comes with a caveat: Can he qualify academically?
Hall began the year on the inactive list, though he was eligible by PSAL standards, coach Lawrence (Bud) Pollard says. Jefferson principal James Anderson wanted Hall to take summer classes to make up for the credits he previously lost; he played AAU basketball instead. After Hall made up the classes, only then could he play. Now, Pollard says it’s possible, though daunting, for him to pass the NCAA Clearinghouse.
“It’s the bottom of the ninth,” the coach says. “It’s either do or die. He’s got a lot of work to do.”
Hall still thinks about the shelter. There are moments in games, if he’s struggling, he uses it as motivation, thinking back to what his life once was. He kept it a secret, only letting close friends know about the situation. His mother bought him nice clothes and the latest sneakers to hide their poverty. When he was asked why he never invited anyone over to his place, he said he wasn’t allowed guests.
“I’d have to make up a weird excuse,” he says. “I didn’t want anyone to know we lived in a shelter.”
April, 42, who now works as a phone operator for a corporate car service and a moving company, wasn’t proud of that time in her life. When Section 8, a government-funded system to help low-income families, lowered financial assistance she was forced to enter her family into the city’s Emergency Assistance Unit (EAU), which places families into homeless shelters. She was out of work, with three children to take care of and no father figure to help her provide for them.
“She was relying on the Section 8,” says Nicole Kerolle, her good friend who took in Hall and his siblings at one point. “She was extremely stressed. It was one of those situations where it rains, it pours. Everything started to crumble down.”
The shelter was difficult, April said, one room for her and her three children. There was a 9 p.m. curfew. Very few visitors were allowed. They had to sign in and sign out. And that was only the tip of the harrowing stretch in their lives in the shelter.
“The hardest part about it was you had people in there dealing drugs, there were gangs inside the shelter, people were getting robbed, counselorsnot doing their job,” April says. “Sometimes you can’t sleep at night; you don’t know if someone is going to try and steal your things.”
The family kept one another going with laughter, doing whatever it took to pass the time.
“We would do anything to keep our minds off being in a shelter,” Hall said.
Eventually, she found a job and saved up enough money for a place on Staten Island the summer after Hall’s sophomore year. It was better than the shelter, the home in St. George, but the 2-1/2 hour commute proved challenging for Hall. He had to wake up at 5 a.m. to get to school on time and often didn’t get home until 11 p.m. Attendance issues and academic woes persisted.
At the start of the season, Pollard said junior college was the likely rout. There was a time, in the fall, he wasn’t sure if Hall would even be a part of the team. That was before he made up the classes and began displaying newfound maturity.
Pollard says he’s seen a reformation in Hall; April said he’s done a 180-degree turn, that maturity — and owning up to his responsibilities — finally settled in. He’s waking up on time for school – always a struggle – meeting with tutors and not missing classes. He’s upped his cumulative average to 2.0. If he continues on this path, qualifying is possible, Pollard and April say.
“I know for a fact a lot of kids in New York City couldn’t have done what he’s done,” close family friend and basketball mentor Bernard Bowen says. “A lot of people see he’s a good a ball player, but they don’t know what he went through. Thaddeus has been to the bottom and back. I’m so proud of him. I hope he qualifies – he deserves it.”
Hall understands why some may doubt this sudden about-face. He’s never played a full season at Jefferson, grades always getting in the way. He said the moving around, living in a shelter, was part of the problem, but he also accepts responsibility.
“When you’re unstable, it’s hard to function,” says Kasheem, Hall’s older brother. “I know for a fact it affected him – it affected all of us.”
By late December, he was finally back. He played in two games during the Kreul Classic in Florida in late December before a back injury sent him back to the bench.
He returned to the court fully in early January and Jefferson has lost just once since, to national powerhouse St. Anthony of Jersey City, which currently has a 62-game winning streak. The Orange Wave have won their 14 other contests, against the likes of Xaverian, South Shore, Boys & Girls and Lincoln.
Hall has performed like a man possessed. He had 34 points in the Brooklyn borough final against Boys High; 39 points, 34 in the first half, in a second-round playoff win over Robeson; and 21 points against St. Anthony, ranked third in the country by USA Today.
“He’s an engine that can’t be replaced,” teammate Jalen Evans says. “Without him, we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
Remarkably, his shot – his calling card – has only recently returned. Hall has succeeded because of his ability to finish at the rim, drive past defenders, hit the offensive glass. He’s put in stalwart defensive efforts, shutting down stars such as Boys & Girls’ Leroy (Truck) Fludd and Lincoln’s Isaiah Whitehead, and averaged 10 rebounds per game this postseason.
Says Pollard: “There’s not a player in the city better than him. There’s nothing he can’t do right now.”
After he scored 25 points in a quarterfinal win over Wadleigh in front of St. John’s coach Steve Lavin, hitting 3-pointers from what felt like Citi Field, the Red Storm offered him a scholarship. Several others have as well, even with academic questions.
“If he was qualified, his offers would triple,” said one Division I assistant coach familiar with Hall.
Talent evaluator Tom Konchalski said he’s the “most explosive scorer” in the PSAL with “an incredible motor, he never stops coming at you. He’s hardwood blessing in disguise.”
“I don’t know if he would be a Moe Harkless, but he could be a good piece for a [major Division I] team,” the coach said.
The key phrase is could. Even when the season ends, when basketball no longer is the carrot to get him up in the morning, Hall says with complete certainty he won’t change. There is the college scholarship on the table and the chance to make a better life not only for himself, but his family. He’s always dreamed of playing big-time college basketball, testing himself against the nation’s best. The opportunity is there, it’s a matter of him meeting the necessary standards.
“One thing a lot of people don’t know is I like school. It’s a lot of fun. It makes my day sometimes,” he says. “I could’ve quit and been doing other things, like been in gangs and fighting, but I chose not to. I stayed in school and kept playing ball. All I have to do is go to all of my classes do my work and takes the SATs and I’ll go to college.”
The next week is a big one for Hall. Jefferson faces Wings on Saturday in the semifinals, one win away from getting to Madison Square Garden. Pollard has told Hall if he brings home that elusive crown, he’ll hang his jersey in the school’s gym.
“I want to leave my mark on Jefferson,” he says. “I want everybody to remember me.”
Qualifying, he says, would be an even greater accomplishment, one he talks about as an inevitability, not a possibility. He’s dead-set on it. He’s been through too much, come too far, to fall back into his old ways. He’s not living in a shelter anymore. He’s not traveling from Staten Island. He has his own room, just a few subway stops from Jefferson.
He has no reason not to make it.