Recruiting Report: Alfonse Hale (2018)
Michael Fitzpatrick
One of the top scoring guards in the area returns for another go of it in Maple Heights.
Afonse Hale (2018), 5’11”, who averaged 25 points an outing as a junior, will lead the Mustangs again.
Hale, who played for TNBA East this summer, said he’ll look to create more this year and score when he has to. He seemed to do that for TNBA as it won the platinum championship in the U17 at GRBA National Championships in Ft. Wayne on July 30.
Powerfully built, Hale has good handle and hits the open shot when it’s there. He can change speed and direction and get to the basket.
“He uses his change of pace,” said Hale’s AAU coach, Jermaine Gay. He uses that ability to get to the basket and great body control for those acrobatic finishes.
Hale is entering his fourth-year of starting at the varsity level so he brings to the court a sense of composure and gamesmanship that only experience can create.
“I’m more of a facilitator. I score when I need to, but I’m surrounded by some guys who got better during the summer, so now it’s time for them to step up, take a load off of me,” Hale said after a recent playoff game at the Earl Boykins Summer League.
The Mustangs backcourt should be a potent one with returning starter Marcus Kimmie and the addition of Julian Whiteside, another point-guard type, from Garfield Heights.
Hale said he’s received an offer from West Virginia State and that Lake Erie College is also interested in him.
“I hit open shots and I hit tough shots. I’m a tough shot taker,” said Hale, whose internet highlight tape shot shows him finishing off acrobatic drive after acrobatic drive.
“I feel like I would make plays for teammates, play great defense and hit open shots when needed,” Hale said when asked what he’d bring to a college program.
