A huge congratulations are in order for one of our very own, Claire Hale, daughter of the one and only Travis Hale, also known as San Antonio Red Raider, who committed to Trinity University to play basketball for the Tigers. During the football season, Travis mentioned that Claire would be committing, hopefully around the start of the basketball season and I told him that we needed to celebrate this and have a commitment post on Staking The Plains (it’s my website, I can pretty much do what I want) so here we are.
Claire currently plays for the Brandeis Broncos, is the leading the team in scoring at 13.5 PPG (5th in district), 2nd on team in rebounds at 7.5 per game (3rd in district), and is leading the district in blocks at 1.6 per game. A huge part of Claire’s development has been the result of the work she put in with her club team, the San Antonio Islanders.
So happy to announce that I’ve been accepted to Trinity University and have verbally committed to play basketball there! Thank you to all who have supported me along the way! Merry Christmas and go Tigers!! pic.twitter.com/3ubXYcl0hn
— Claire Hale (@ClaireHale_12) December 10, 2018
I asked Travis for the inside scoop on Claire’s game:
Her defense and rebounds are impressive because she’s a 2 guard but can play inside. Brandeis is 13-2 and ranked 2nd in the city (they were #1 until a tough loss last Tuesday to a very good Clark team).
She’s a two year captain and plays very patiently with a high IQ. A SA basketball podcast called her a “silent assassin,” last week and it’s very true.
The Trinity coaches told her that they feel like they can be nationally competitive with her because they have some good post players and adding Claire is going to open up their offense a ton. They were extremely happy to get her commitment.
We were able to secure an exclusive-exclusive Q&A with Claire and I’d like to thank the staff, who heartily congratulated Claire, and helped with the questions.
What went into your decision to choose Trinity?
I’ve known that I wanted to stay close to home, and Trinity is about as close as I can get. I also really enjoyed practicing with the girls and both of the coaches are super nice and seem very passionate about what they do. They have a great basketball program and are always in the hunt for conference championships. Aside from basketball, Trinity has a great academic program that will prepare me for my future career, and I’m excited for everything it has to offer.
How would you describe your game to someone who hasn’t seen you play?
I’ve always been told that I’m in the right place at the right time. I love playing defense, and I’m able to get rebounds and finish them, and I also think I have a consistent outside shot.
What advice would you give others who want the chance to play ball in college?
I’d say always be open to whoever comes to you because you never know what will be the right fit. And you really have to love the game because it takes a lot of work.
What’s your source of motivation, and how do you keep the grind from feeling stale?
I’m very competitive, and I always try to push myself to be the best that I can be. I always try to remind myself that one day I won’t be playing basketball, so to enjoy it now as much as I can because I love the sport and it has been such a big part of my life.
Tell us about how big much “family” can be to signing with a college? And this applies to your family and your basketball family.
I have so much support from my family, friends, teammates, coaches, and anyone else in my life. The amount of support that I have definitely makes a decision like this easier because I know they will always stand by me and want the best for me.
Congrats again to Claire. What a huge honor. Congrats also go to the entire Hale family as these sorts of things don’t normally happen without a committed family of driving to tournaments and practices and all of the other things involved in hoping for that rare opportunity to be a scholarship athlete.