Not everyone saw Jhrevious Hall’s vision when he committed to play football at Indiana.
Columbia’s star defensive lineman committed to the Hoosiers, and first year coach Curt Cignetti, just days after making an official visit in June. The Hoosiers were coming off a 3-9 season ― 57 years removed from its last Big Ten title. Hall continually fielded the same question from friends and family.
Why Indiana?
Today, Hall doesn’t have much explaining to do. The Hoosiers have started the season 9-0 for the first time in program history and are No. 8 in the first College Football Playoff rankings.
“It feels great because the people that were like, ‘Why IU?’ at first, I’ve had a lot of them come up to me (and say), ‘I see why you chose IU,'” said Hall, whose Columbia Lions travel to Page at 7 p.m. Friday in the first round of the TSSAA Class 5A football playoffs. “I told y’all this from the jump, it’s a big culture change and this man (Cignetti) wins and the whole coaching staff, they win.
“So I knew where I was going since the day I stepped foot on that campus for an official visit, like I said. So it’s been that from the start and I ain’t switching up on them.”
Hall could feel the shift in culture on his first visit to Bloomington. Conversations with Hoosiers defensive tackles coach Pat Kuntz, who joined Cignetti from James Madison, only further convinced Hall the program was on the cusp of something special and everything he’s seen on the field so far has reflected those sentiments.
Hall still talks with Kuntz on a weekly basis, receiving tips, motivation and an inside look at the defensive scheme he’ll be a part of next season.
“It was really just the way I fit in their scheme,” Hall said. “I’m going to get vertical, go make a play in the backfield type guy and that’s the defensive scheme that they have, so I love it. That’s what they’re doing, making plays in the backfield.”
Hall will make his first visit to Bloomington, since committing, this weekend to see the Hoosiers face defending national champions Michigan. He expects a convincing victory ahead of a highly anticipated matchup against second-ranked Ohio State on Nov. 23.
“I can’t wait to get up there … we got Michigan, so we should move up (the rankings) then,” he said. “Then the big test, everybody’s waiting on this one, Ohio State. Top five, we’ll beat them, I ain’t going to lie. So we should definitely be up there.”
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Ahead of his visit to Bloomington, Hall and Columbia face No. 1-ranked Page and with the season on the line, Columbia coach Tra’Darius Goff said moments like this are an opportunity for Hall to prove why he was such a highly touted recruit. Hall has displayed his playmaking ability, closing out the regular season with 47 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and 10 sacks, while facing double-teams in most games.
“It’s very important, if you are who you say you are, Indiana offered you and you’re a top recruit in the state, top recruit in this area, you got to show it every time you get on the field,” Goff said. “It doesn’t matter if they know you or not, when you walk out on the field and you’re playing, they’re going to be like, ‘Oh, that’s him, right there, I can tell.'”
“So that’s just what it is man. Just being that dog, standing out, making plays, whether you’re double teamed, getting held and whatnot, still making a play. That’s what I expect out of him.”
Harrison Campbell covers high school sports and more for The Daily Herald. Email him at hcampbell@gannett.com and follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @hccamp.
