SANBORN — Azriel Hall could have decommitted from SUNY Niagara and gone somewhere else when she was leaving Lockport High School. She could have left after Nate Beutel left, and she could have left after Maleik Agee left.
She made the choice to stay even when she was only one of two players left on the roster and she didn’t know who the new head coach was going to be. She made the choice to stay and support whoever ended up in the position.
Now that coach is Bill Shaw and Hall is happy she made the decision to stay at SUNY Niagara and play out her sophomore year.
It wasn’t cut and dry, though, for the Lockport native. She had conversations with coaches and had thought about leaving before she made the decision to stay and play for Shaw and the Thunderwolves.
“I think I stayed because honestly I want to get better and I wanted to give coach Bill a chance,” Hall said. “I heard a lot of good things about him, so I wanted to stay and to stay for him. I feel like I could give him more confidence knowing that some players have stayed. I feel like I’ve gotten so much better and I just want player of the year part two.”
The fact that she did stay and did not require any convincing from Shaw helped him out a ton because of the skill level that Hall brings to the floor.
If she does get a second Player of the Year award, it will be because she replicated her season from last year, when she averaged almost 20 points per game. Last season, Hall averaged 19.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 rebounds per game. Her play led to her being named the 2025-26 SUNY Niagara Female Newcomer of the Year award winner.
“I think it went really good,” Hall said. “I had the support of my teammates, from my coach and I think I worked hard enough. I was in the gym every day, if not every day, every other day. I think I worked hard enough to get what I have achieved last year.”
The work to get there started this summer, when she has been working out at the school with some of her teammates and Shaw. Despite the fact that both Shaw and Hall made their names in Lockport, the two only knew of each other after Shaw got the job.
That has changed; they have built a relationship through the aforementioned summer workouts. The fact that Hall has been in the gym putting the work in will help her when the season starts in mid-October. It has come from her putting an emphasis on her left hand and her game from beyond the arc. Last season, Hall shot 44% from three, good for best on the team.
“I watched her, followed her at Lockport,” Shaw said. “Unfortunately, she got hurt; I believe it was her senior year and didn’t play a ton. But I watched her, followed her at Lockport and then when she came here last year, followed her then too, just the team, not necessarily her but watching Lockport play and watching Niagara Community play last year, … we got to see what kind of talent she is.”
Hall’s scoring ability will be what gives her a role on the team. She knows that if she can get going and heat up on the scoring front, it can help her teammates do the same thing.
After her performances last year and the work she has put in this summer, Shaw knows that Hall will be a mainstay in his starting lineup this season.
“If you come to the game, please shoot me if I take her off the court,” Shaw said with a hearty laugh.
While she will start the season in the starting lineup, Hall knows that if she stays there it will be because she has improved in her leadership abilities as well as in her play on the floor.
Now the former Lockport standout is receiving interest from schools around the country. While she has enjoyed living at home for her first year and a half, she does not want to stay at home for her final two years of college. She wants to go out and experience the rest of the country.
“I think after this year I would want to go out of New York because I think I have better opportunities, more coaching, better coaching and just a better opportunity for myself,” Hall said.