Story by Keenan Hall
Staff writer
khall16@murraystate.edu
Jon Mark Hall, Murray State alumnus and University of Southern Indiana director of athletics, recently accepted a position as an NCAA Division II men’s basketball committee chair.
Hall was a former five-time coach of the year in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, earning a 123-47 record as men’s tennis head coach. He also coached the Screaming Eagles to four GLVC tournament wins, and the men’s tennis programs’ first two NCAA tournament trophies.
Previously, he helped host the Division II Elite Eight in 2002, 2014 and 2015. Hall will continue to do so with the men’s basketball Elite Eight through 2020.
“The last two years, I served on the national men’s basketball committee as a representative of the midwest region,” Hall said. “We are working with the Evansville Sports Corporation to host the Elite Eight. I am really excited about continuing our work in Evansville in the years to come.”
Now, Hall will embark on the next step of his career as chair of the committee. Hall attributes his start in collegiate athletics to former Murray State men’s basketball Head Coach Steve Newton. Newton coached the Racers from 1985-1991, then accepted a job at the University of South Carolina.
Newton would later receive the athletic director position at Southern Indiana University, where he hired Hall as the assistant athletic director. He planned on embarking on a career in athletics even before earning a master’s in sports administration. Hall’s desire originated from volunteering with Racer athletics during his time at Murray State.
“He was the reason I came to Southern Indiana,” Hall said. “When I first started I had a goal to be involved in athletics one way or another, whether it was in professional sports or intercollegiate sports.”
Hall graduated cum laude from Murray State in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He continued his academic career by receiving his master’s in sports administration from Ohio State University.
“When I got to Ohio State University, I knew I wanted to lock in on mastering intercollegiate sports.”
He later had a brief stint with the University of South Carolina-Spartanburg as an assistant athletic director.
Hall got his start in sports at Murray State as a student athlete for the Racers’ men’s
tennis team. He also worked in retail under the direction of current men’s golf Head Coach Eddie Hunt.
“I was around Murray State athletics for quite a bit,” Hall said. “I worked at Dennis and Hunt Sporting Goods in Murray for a bit after I finished school before I got my first opportunity in athletics.
Hall has been the director of athletics at SIU since 2002. Hall coached the men’s tennis and assisted the director of athletics for seven years prior to becoming the director of athletics.
His job as the NCAA compliance coordinator was organizing various academic support programs for student athletes at SIU.
Hall used his past experience in Murray to help him mentor and guide student athletes. He takes characteristics from his former tennis coach mentor Newton to apply to directing students in SIU’s program.
“From my time at Murray State, and, playing for the men’s tennis team at Murray State I knew this was what I was supposed to do,” Hall said.
He prefers working with student athletes on excelling on and of the field. Also, after they leave campus and begin their own game of life.
“I really enjoy being on campus and working alongside student athletes, particularly the 18-24 year old age group,” Hall said. “Helping students develop their career path has been a great experience for me, and, I look forward to continuing to do so.”