Junior Center Transfers to Morehouse College

UPDATED: Sept. 14, 2014, at 1:15 p.m.

Junior Michael Hall, a backup center for the Harvard men’s basketball team, has transferred to Morehouse College, Athletics Department spokesperson Andrew D. Chesebro told The Crimson early Thursday morning. Hall, who played in 11 games in his Crimson career, would have entered the season competing for a spot in a crowded Crimson frontcourt rotation.

As of print time, neither university had updated its basketball roster to represent the move.

Hall was a heralded two-star recruit coming out of Woodward Academy in Atlanta, Ga. ESPN ranked him as the No. 8 high school basketball recruit in the state and Rivals.com named him a top-150 player nationally. He was selected as the preseason Ivy League Freshman of the Year by College Sports Madness for the 2012-2013 season, an honor later officially won by teammate Siyani Chambers.

He played in seven games his freshman year, highlighted by the first start of his career against Fordham. During Ivy League play, Hall played little as Harvard coach Tommy Amaker switched to a seven-man rotation, with then-sophomores Steve Moundou-Missi, Kenyatta Smith, and Jonah Travis playing the forward positions.

With the departures of Hall and sophomore Hunter Myers, who has been granted a medical leave for the fall 2014 semester, the Crimson will begin the 2014-2015 season with a depleted frontcourt. Co-captain Moundou-Missi, a Second Team All-Ivy selection a year ago, will likely take one of the starting spots. Classmates Smith and Travis, junior Evan Cummins, sophomore Zena Edosomwan, and freshman Chris Egi will compete for the remaining minutes.

—Jacob D. H. Feldman and Juliet Spies-Gans contributed to the reporting of this story

—Staff writer David Freed can be reached at david.freed@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @CrimsonDPFreed.

—Staff writer Andrew Farber can reached at andrewfarber@college.harvard.edu.

This article has been revised to reflect the following clarification:

CLARIFICATION: September 14, 2014

An earlier version of this article stated that an Athletics Department source confirmed Michael Hall's departure. To clarify, the junior men's basketball player's departure was confirmed by Athletics Department spokesperson Andrew D. Chesebro.