The News and Tribune

By MATT CRESS

It isn’t difficult to see that Donnie Hale stands tall over the majority of his opponents on the basketball court.

But the New Albany junior’s influence on area hoops runs even deeper — almost as long as his wingspan.

For the 2008-09 campaign, the 6-foot-7 Hale took his place as the marquee name on a Bulldog team that posted an astounding second straight unbeaten regular season, watched his name surface on the radar of nearly every major recruiting service and drew plenty of attention from a long list of top-tier college coaches.

Even though New Albany’s season came to an end at the hands of Class 4A No. 1 Bloomington South in last weekend’s Seymour Regional, the Bulldog big man hasn’t tired of grabbing accolades, as he has been named The Evening News/The Tribune Area Player of the Year.

“I just tried to do what I had to do for us to win,” said Hale. “I never minded sharing. I had my nights, but if it was someone else’s night I just wanted to make sure they got the chance to do their thing.”

He may be a consummate teammate, but many of the Bulldogs’ nights nonetheless belonged to the man in the middle. Assisted by the emergence of senior teammate Brett Martin as a bona fide threat, Hale averaged a double-double by scoring nearly 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds per game to serve as the catalyst for a New Albany team that is currently riding a 43-game win streak in the regular season.

Though he has been surrounded by talented teammates during his first three years — names like Indiana All-Star Braydon Hobbs and fellow All-Area teammates TeNale Roland and Martin — Hale’s impact on New Albany goes beyond statistics. It shows itself most clearly in the win column.

The Bulldogs went 21-4 and played for a regional championship during Hale’s freshman year (that run was again halted by Bloomington South) and his second act was as a starter on one of the finest teams in school history. The 2007-08 Bulldogs went 26-1 and captured both sectional and regional crowns before losing to eventual-state champion Brownsburg in the Class 4A semistate.

Coming off that stellar campaign, Hale was often cited as the key player for a New Albany squad with significantly lower expectations.

“Once we got into the season, I definitely thought we could do it (go unbeaten again),” Hale said. “But we weren’t getting near as much credit as we did before. Maybe that ended up being a good thing, but we felt like people were a little down on us.”

Hale wasted little time in proving the doubters wrong.

He scored 29 points and had 16 boards in a big early-December win at Columbus East to start a seven-game streak in which he led the team in both categories. More importantly, he seemed to reserve his biggest games for the biggest moments, pouring in 23 points and 13 rebounds during an overtime win at Jeffersonville on Jan. 9, a result that ended up being the smallest margin of victory all season for New Albany.

With every big win and every huge performance, the pressure mounted for both Hale and New Albany, which spent much of the season ranked just behind Bloomington South as the second-best team among Indiana’s largest schools. Yet Hale had plenty in the tank as the season wound down, ending up with 31 points and 16 boards in a victory over Indianapolis Arlington and 16 points in a win over Bloomington North that finished off another perfect season. In Hale’s three seasons, New Albany has not only won three sectionals, two regionals and three straight Hoosier Hills Conference titles, but has run off a too-good-to-be-true 70-6 record.

It’s a fact that did no go unnoticed by hoops observers that have long taken an interest in New Albany’s big prospect. Hale is currently No. 104 on Rivals.com’s list of the top 150 prep talents in the nation and has drawn a slew of attention from the coaching staffs at Xavier, Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa and Cincinnati. Rivals currently lists Purdue as the front-runner on Hale’s list, but he remains non-committal about the future.

“I really try to stay away from all of it,” Hale said. “There is enough stress with the season and the tournament. In the summer, I’m playing in a lot of different places and it gets very stressful then. I can’t worry about anything but what is right in front of me.”

While the question of where Hale’s career will continue after his days at New Albany are complete, he maintains that he is in no hurry. He hopes to have his decision made prior to the start of his senior year, but says he has no problem drawing it until he finds the perfect fit.

“I definitely plan on getting it done (before next season),” Hale said. “But if I’m not comfortable, I’ll wait until everything feels right. The main thing is that I don’t rush in and I find the place that I need to be.”

Still, the reigning Player of the Year will still be concentrating on what really drives — the thought of another perfect run through the schedule and perhaps even more.

“Guys like Jordy Martin and Tate Rohlfing are going to play bigger,” said Hale about the Bulldogs’ prospects next season. “Me, I’m going to do whatever I need to do. I don’t have to be the high scorer every night. We just want to win.”