Friday, November 8, 2024

Fishers star has state titles in track, basketball… and just got biggest football offer.

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JonAnthony Hall lands offer from Notre Dame football: ‘It’s really, really big.’

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  • JonAnthony Hall finished second in the long jump at Saturday’s IHSAA boys track and field state met.
  • Hall, the No. 52-ranked football player in the 2025 class, won a basketball state title with Fishers this past season.

JonAnthony Hall is on a hot streak.

State basketball championship. Check.

State track and field championship. Check.

State long jump champion. Almost. He finished second by 2 inches at Saturday’s state meet.

Notre Dame football offer. Check.

Hall, a three-sport star at Fishers High School and one of the state’s all-around top athletes, picked up an offer from the Fighting Irish on Friday, a development that carries weight for the wide receiver prospect.

“It’s big,” Hall said. “It’s definitely big. I notice the culture already; how many people are buzzing and excited about Notre Dame. A lot of my friends are Notre Dame fans and there are a lot of people congratulating me (about the offer). It was just really, really big.”

Another of the state’s top multi-sport athletes, Ben Davis football/basketball standout Mark Zackery, committed to Notre Dame’s football program last month. Zackery and Hall played together for the Indiana Junior All-Stars against the Kentucky Junior All-Stars in Scottsburg in a 130-103 victory, posting nearly identical numbers (Zackery had 10 points, six rebounds and five assists and Hall put up 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists).

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“I haven’t been able to talk to him a lot one-on-one, but we had our All-Star game together and already feel like we have good chemistry,” Hall said. “Just based on knowing each other and being able to play in the game, it was really fun. I feel like we’re both really smart and being able to have another defensive guy out there just tearing people up was really, really fun.”

Notre Dame’s interest in Hall picked up recently. Wide receivers coach Mike Brown, who was hired away from Wisconsin in December, visited the 6-2, 180-pound Hall at his high school last month and has remained in contact for the past few weeks. Notre Dame already has 21 commits in the 2025 class, ranking No. 1 in the country on the 247Sports composite list. Shaun Terry, a three-star receiver from Ohio, decommitted from Notre Dame on Saturday, leaving the Irish with two receivers currently in the class.

Hall, who jumped to a four-star prospect last month by 247sports and the No. 52 player in the country in the 2025 class, has locked in an official visit to Notre Dame.

His official plans: Stanford, Thursday to Sunday, Notre Dame, June 11-13, Purdue, June 14-16, Indiana, June 21-23

Hall, who caught 69 passes for 1,055 yards and six touchdowns as a junior and averaged 42.2 yards on nine kickoff returns, said he plans to make a decision “by July or August.”

“I want to get it out of the way so senior year I can go have fun,” he said.

Hall has other offers, including Illinois, Iowa, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern. He said it is unlikely he officially narrows it down, but it is instructive to read into the schools where he will take official visits.

“I don’t know if I’ll be making a ‘top whatever’ post,” he said. “But I have it narrowed down to schools I want to visit — ones I’m taking official visits to. I don’t like to put a whole bunch of stuff out there but that’s me narrowing it down.”

Hall believes his rise in recruiting interest and rankings has something do with him continuing to play three sports. He averaged 11.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.7 steals per game as a junior on a team that finished 29-1 and won a Class 4A state championship. His 23-foot, 1-inch long jump at the state meet was good for second behind Penn senior Elijah Coker’s winning 23-3 jump and helped propel the Tigers to a team state title.

“Especially when it comes to rankings and things like that, one thing I always see is ‘three-sport athlete,’” Hall said. “It something that’s really hard to do — being able to win state in track and basketball. But I think it helps elevate football because a lot of teams know I’m a winner and know what it takes.”

Hall’s Fishers’ team defeated Zachery’s Ben Davis to win the 4A basketball title. Zachery won a basketball title as a sophomore and football as a junior. Hall has state titles in basketball and track. Two multi-sport athletes who know how to win. Time will tell if they end up at the same college.

Hall is busy with recruiting for much of June but also working on getting set for what should be a fun senior season.

“I think we have a good chance (to win again) in basketball,” he said. “We have seven of our top nine scorers coming back so we have some nice upside with that. Long jump, I’ll have some decent competition but definitely think I can take that. And football, we should have a really good offense and I’m confident we can do something special if we pull it together. We’ve been changing a lot of things when it comes to culture so I think of kids will be tougher and more mentally strong his year.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

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