How Wichita’s Breece Hall became the nation’s leading rusher at Iowa State
It started with a phone call.
Long before Breece Hall became the nation’s leading rusher at Iowa State, he was a multi-sport athlete at Wichita Northwest who quietly hoped a college football coach would eventually notice his talents as a running back and offer a scholarship. For the longest time, he wondered if it would ever happen.
But that changed on a chilly winter day three years ago when he picked up his phone and heard the voice of Iowa State coach Matt Campbell.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” Hall said earlier this week. “It was right after my junior football season and I had just gotten home from basketball practice. One of the guys told me to hop on the phone. I was getting texts left and right from my coaches congratulating me on my first offer. I was like, ‘What in the world is going on?’ Then I put my phone on speaker and Coach Campbell says they are going to offer me. I was real excited, jumping around. My mom and step dad were the same way. It was just a real good moment.”
It is rare for the Cyclones to swoop into Wichita and land a star football recruit, given that many other Big 12 schools (Kansas, K-State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State) recruit the city, but they were the first college team to show serious interest in Hall. And he has been rewarding them for that ever since.
“As soon as I saw (film of Hall, I was) really impressed with it early on,” Campbell said at a recent news conference. “We decided to offer him the scholarship. The recruitment from there on was an enjoyable process, to be honest. Great family. Great mom. Great stepdad. Great sister. On top of that, just a tremendous high school football program. For us, it almost was very easy in that aspect of it.”
Hall was a late bloomer as a high school football player and didn’t even crack the varsity roster at Northwest until his junior year. But he was electric from then on. As Hall came into his own as a dominant ball carrier, his offer list exploded to include in-state teams like KU and K-State, in addition to far away schools like Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Tennessee, TCU and Wisconsin.
The player who was once overlooked was suddenly a national recruit.
Hall ended up receiving so much recruiting love that he struggles to remember the other schools he listed in his top 10 before he made things official with Iowa State. But he does remember one other school making an impression — K-State.
The Wildcats were one of the few other schools that he seriously considered. He says he “really liked their coaching staff” but he was making his college decision when Bill Snyder was nearing retirement. Knowing that he was “on the way out” more or less eliminated the Wildcats from consideration.
Not that it would have mattered.
“I really had my heart set on Iowa State the whole time,” Hall said. “My relationship with the coaches and them being my first offer sold me on becoming a Cyclone. I really wanted to get away from home and mature on my own, away from my family and friends and everything else. For me, coming up to Iowa, it really helped me mature and learn how to live on my own. It helped me become a man. Honestly, it is probably the best decision I have made in my entire life.”
No one is second-guessing his college choice today.
After a head-turning freshman season, Hall is now a Heisman candidate as a sophomore. He currently leads the nation in total rushing yards (1,034), rushing yards per game (147.7) and rushing yards per carry (6.27). He also ranks third in rushing touchdowns (13).
Perhaps most impressive of all, he has rushed for at least 100 yards and a touchdown in his first seven games. Only five other players have matched that feat since 1996. Their names are Ladainian Tomlinson, Troy Davis, Tiki Barber, Bryce Love and Leonard Fournette.
Hall credits Iowa State’s coaches for his booming production.
There is no secret to his running style. He simply graduated a semester early from high school and trusted in the plan they set for him when he arrived on campus. When pressed for further details about how his speed, vision and ability to burst through a hole have improved since high school, he switches topics and praises his teammates for opening things up for him. And not just one or two them ... all of them. Seriously, he lists every starter on the Cyclones’ two-deep by name. It’s almost like he doesn’t want to take credit for his sensational season.
“It’s surreal,” Hall said, “but everything I have accomplished is just a shout out to my offensive line and everyone else on our offense. I can’t do it by myself.”
With Hall leading the way on offense, Iowa State (5-2, 5-1 Big 12) is having a magical season. The Cyclones are currently on top of the conference standings and within reach of their first appearance in the league championship game.
“This is a special team,” Hall said. “We can go as far as we want to go.”
Hall and the Cyclones are playing so well that they have forced some folks in his hometown to consider cheering against the in-state teams they usually root for. When Iowa State beat KU two weeks ago, Hall had 59 friends and family in attendance at Memorial Stadium. Next week, he expects a dozen or so friends with K-State ties to make the trek to Ames when the Wildcats are in town.
It’s crazy to think about how different things might have transpired had Campbell not taken a chance on Hall three years ago.
Thing is, Campbell never thought he was taking a risk. He recognized Hall’s potential almost immediately, saying “it’s not hard to tell what really good football players look like.”
Did Campbell think Hall would be this good this fast? No, but he was confident Hall had a bright future.
It looks brighter with every game he plays at Iowa State.
This story was originally published November 13, 2020 at 5:00 AM with the headline "How Wichita’s Breece Hall became the nation’s leading rusher at Iowa State."