Bruce Pearl's newest signing, Keyshawn Hall, opens up on losing 70 pounds after freshman season at UNLV 

Keyshawn Hall has been through a lot of changes in his college basketball career. Bruce Pearl's newest signing opened up about his weight battle during his freshman season at UNLV and his remarkable transformation afterward in a chat with On3's Joe Tipton, shared on his X/Twitter account on Wednesday.

Tipton looked shocked when he heard the amount of weight Hall had lost after his first year in the NCAA. He played 18 games for the Rebels during his freshman year, averaging 5.4 points and 1.6 boards as a substitute in the 2022-23 season.

"I had to lose the weight. I was bigger in high school. I was still like 280, 295, around that area. I lost almost like 70 pounds," Hall told Tipton.

Hall's fellow Auburn signee KeShawn Murphy was also caught by surprise when he heard the weight his new teammate shed heading into the 2023-24 season.

Murphy asked Hall if he had lost the 70 pounds in the summer.

"Yeah, in like two, three months," Hall replied.

Tipton followed up Murphy's question by asking Hall his weight-loss secrets.

“Man, I stopped eating bread. I stopped eating certain foods. Carbs, stopped eating a lot of carbs. And then I ran like a mile and a half a day,” Hall said.

Murphy praised Hall's commitment, saying:

"Discipline bro."

Keyshawn Hall's decision to lose weight worked wonders for his college basketball career. He averaged 16.6 ppg and 8.1 rpg in his sophomore season with George Mason.

Hall continued to dominate after transferring to UCF for his junior year. He posted career-best numbers in scoring and assists during the 2024-25 season, averaging 18.8 ppg and 2.4 apg through 33 games for the Knights.

Keyshawn Hall joins forces with Bruce Pearl at Auburn

Keyshawn Hall entered the transfer portal again following his stellar season with UCF and committed to Auburn last month. He later withdrew from the NBA draft process and focused his attention instead on his senior year with the Tigers.

UCF Knights guard Keyshawn Hall (#4) drives past Kansas Jayhawks guard AJ Storr (#2) in the first half of their Big 12 tournament game on March 12, 2025 at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, MO. Photo: Getty

Hall isn't the only player Bruce Pearl has gotten in the transfer market. He also secured the commitments of KeShawn Murphy, Kevin Overton and Elyjah Freeman.

Pearl also got a massive boost on Wednesday when Tahaad Pettiford announced that he would withdraw from the NBA draft and return to Auburn for his sophomore year.