North Carolina A&T

Ben Hall became the interim head baseball coach at North Carolina A&T on October 23, 2014. After a season in that role, A&T Director of Athletics Earl M. Hilton III named Hall the permanent coach on July 21, 2015, making Hall the 10th Aggies baseball coach since A&T became an NCAA program in 1974. 

Hall has enjoyed a surge of success as the Aggies head coach, surpassing 150 career wins during the 2022 season. He enters the 2026 season with 215 wins, earning his 200th on May 16, 2024, against Towson.  The Aggies have been a tough team to defeat at home inside War Memorial Stadium since 2017 under Hall, going 100-76 (.568) at The War. 

A&T’s success at home under Hall is partly due to his ability to develop young talent, including in 2025 when three freshmen made the CAA’s All-Rookie Team. Two of those freshmen – JT Taylor and Tyler Smith – made second-team All-Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). The year before, the Kansas City Royals drafted catcher Canon Brown in the ninth round of the MLB Draft. It marked the second straight year the Aggies had a player drafted after the Florida Marlins selected right-handed pitcher Xavier Meachem in the 10th round. 

Even though he never played for A&T, Hall recruit Jonah McReynolds was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 13th round, 399th overall. The following year, the Atlanta Braves selected Cutter Dyals in the 17th round, 500th overall. In 2019, the Rangers selected relief pitcher Leon Hunter in the 35th round, 1,045th overall. 

Numerous Aggies have also earned invites to the Major League Baseball (MLB) HBCU Swingman All-Star Classic presented by the MLB Players Union during All-Star Weekend, including Smith, Taylor, Brown, Meachem, and Cam Jackson. In 2023, Meachem made the USA National Collegiate Team, becoming the first player in program history to do so. Meachem pitched for Team USA in a series of exhibition games against Japan and Chinese Taipei. Two years later, Smith earned a tryout with the USA National Team. 

Fourteen different Aggies have earned first-team all-conference honors under Hall, with Dawnoven Smith earning multiple first-team honors. Twenty-seven players have achieved some level of all-conference recognition, and in 2020, Michael Johnson earned preseason pitcher of the year recognition from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). In 2015, Adan Ordonez earned MEAC Rookie of the Year and was a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. 

In addition to developing talent during his tenure, Hall helped the program make the successful transition from the MEAC to the Big South Conference, then to the CAA. In A&T’s only season in the Big South in 2022, Hall introduced Aggieland to Brown as a freshman. Brown secured two Big South Freshman of the Week honors, made the all-freshman team, and was an honorable mention All-Big South selection. Brown also claimed Freshman All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball. Hall led the Aggies in their transition to the CAA the following year. In 2024, Brown became the first player in program history to earn first-team All-CAA honors.  

No matter the conference, the Aggies have secured some of the program’s most significant moments under Hall. The Aggies hosted the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time in program history when the Wake Forest Demon Deacons visited War Memorial Stadium on February 27, 2024. That same season saw the Aggies get off to the best start in modern history, putting together a 17-6 record and spending two weeks at the top of the Black College Nines HBCU poll. 

In 2018, Hall led the Aggies to their first MEAC tournament title, the program’s first in 13 years. Hall also led the Aggies to an NCAA tournament, as they played in the Chapel Hill Regional hosted by the University of North Carolina. 

During his time in Aggieland, Hall directed the Aggies to five Power Four wins, including two during the 2022 season. The Aggies defeated Pittsburgh before beating the University of North Carolina 7-6 on the strength of a Cort Maynard grand slam at Boshamer Stadium in Chapel Hill, NC. 

It was A&T’s first win over the Tar Heels since 1993. The Aggies defeated Boston College twice at World War Memorial Stadium two years earlier. In 2019, the Aggies went to Columbia, S.C., and beat the South Carolina Gamecocks 2-0. From 2017-2019, Hall led the Aggies to three straight winning seasons, marking the Aggies’ longest streak since posting five consecutive winning seasons from 1972-76.   

Hall led the Aggies to a school-record 32 wins and a school-record 16 conference wins in 2018. The following season, the Aggies won 29 games, marking the best two-year stretch in program history, where the Aggies compiled 61 wins. The Aggies’ 61-51 (.545) record over that span also marked the best winning percentage over two seasons in program history. After orchestrating one of the best Division I improvements in the nation in 2017, going from 13 wins to a 28-25 mark overall and a 15-9 record in the MEAC. Hall was named MEAC Coach of the Year. He became the second coach in school history to win the honor, following Keith Shumate in 2002. 

Hall came to A&T after spending three seasons with the Winthrop Eagles baseball program. Before accepting the post at Winthrop, Hall worked at Division II Wingate for four seasons. He started as a graduate assistant before being promoted to assistant coach in 2010, where he worked with hitters and infielders. After lettering twice at Clemson University in baseball, Hall began his coaching career as an assistant student coach at Clemson. Hall played one season apiece at Stetson and Daytona Beach Community College before transferring to Clemson. At Stetson, he hit .321 and was named to the Atlantic Sun Conference all-freshman team. 

He received his undergraduate degree in sports management from Clemson in 2007 and his master’s degree in business administration from Wingate in 2009.