Aycock's Hall signs with swimming powerhouse UNC Wilmington

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on May 18, 2014 12:30 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

PIKEVILLE -- It seemed surreal as Devin Hall filled out the paperwork for room assignment and meal plans.

In just three weeks, he's going to graduate from Charles B. Aycock and officially end one of the best chapters of his athletic career. But it's only just beginning for the highly-decorated senior, who set the standard on the regional and state diving scenes.

Hall signed a national letter-of-intent to dive at UNC Wilmington next winter. He considered Division II schools Lake Forest (Ill.) and Delta State (Miss.), but admitted "UNC by the Sea" had been his dream choice all along.

"It's just real relaxed," Hall said.

And highly competitive.

The Seahawks' men's swimming and dive team captured its 13th consecutive Colonial Athletic Association championship earlier this year. The program has produced 15 All-Americans and 114 CAA champions under head coach Dave Allen, who resigned after this season.

It's a perfect fit for Hall, who won three N.C. High School Athletic Association Class 3-A 1-meter diving titles during his career. According to Association records, Hall is just the second three-time state champion -- along with Eastern Wayne's Mason Chenier -- in Wayne County history.

Chenier won six state titles in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events. He continued his career at perennial SEC powerhouse Auburn University.

UNCW returns three divers next season, including CAA rookie-of-the-year Allen Crosby, who dominated the 1- and 3-meter competition throughout the season. Hall roomed with Crosby during his official campus visit.

"I have the technique and I have the capability to compete with them, but at the moment, if I went up there right now, I wouldn't start," Hall said. "I'm a lot closer to the guys on the 1-meter (board) than I am on the 3-meter (board) because I've not had any work on that except for dive camp.

"What me and (diving) Coach (Beau Bunn) have talked about is getting me in the program and getting me up running to where I might start two or three meets ... not the big ones."

College athletes perform a 12-dive routine -- six each on the 1- and 3-meter boards. They're required to compete in one voluntary meet and the rest are optional, which Hall admits will be a challenge.

It's also a chance to improve and learn from his mistakes.

"All muscle memory," said Hall, who plans to major in nursing. "The coaching is a completely different level. There are so many little things they can tweak. Once we pick out what we do wrong on a dive, that's when we start to excel and understand what we need to do to fix it."