Notre Dame Academy has named Gary Hall, a coaching veteran of 23 years in Northern Virginia, as its new head varsity boys’ basketball coach.

Gary Hall

Hall was last a head coach at Herndon High School, where he led the Hornets to the Group AAA state championship game in 2006.

Hall is well known for coaching Scottie Reynolds at Herndon. Reynolds recently was named an All-American following his senior season at Villanova University. Reynolds, a guard, likely will be selected in the NBA Draft in June.

Notre Dame athletic director Carla Adgate said the response from student-athletes at the Middleburg private school to Hall’s hiring has been overwhelming.

“There is a buzz here that I haven’t seen in a while,” Adgate said. “I think he is going to bring a lot of excitement to Notre Dame.”

Hall’s teams produced a 319-136 record at Herndon, including six district titles and one region championship. He was named district Coach of the Year seven times.

Hall stepped down as Herndon coach to have more time to watch his daughters—Morgan and Ashley—play basketball at Briar Woods High School. He served as an assistant basketball coach for the Falcons the last three years.

“The plan was always for me to be a head coach again when they graduate high school,” Hall said of his daughters, both seniors who have completed their basketball careers at Briar Woods.

According to Hall, the biggest question was whether to coach at a public or private school. Hall felt he had the best situation possible in a public school as basketball coach at Herndon and did not know if that could be recaptured.

Hall decided to interview at Notre Dame after J. Williams resigned this spring to focus on his private sector job. Williams guided the Dragons to the 2010 state tournament in their return to varsity play after competing at the junior varsity level the previous two seasons.

It did not take long for Adgate to realize Hall was the right candidate: “Within five minutes of meeting him, I knew he was perfect for the job.”

Hall explained having the opportunity to work with his players year-round was a key factor in him deciding to go the private school route. Coaches at public schools are limited in working with their players during the offseason.

“The thing I love most about coaching is working with young men in the gym to help their skill level,” Hall said. “It’s frustrating you can’t do that in public school. This gives me the opportunity to work with young people on a daily basis.”

Hall and Adgate share the common vision of wanting to form a better relationship with public schools in the area. Hall admits that recruiting is part of the job at a private school, but he said he does not plan on doing any “negative recruiting.”

“My goal is to build a program that not only Notre Dame will be proud of, but the whole county can be proud of,” Hall said.