‘It’s all heart’: Quentin Hall barely stood 5-8, but proved giant in Gonzaga’s 1999 NCAA tournament run that finally ended against UConn

Editor’s note: This is the final installment of a six-part look back at Gonzaga’s wild run to the Elite Eight during the 1998-99 season. Read the previous installments at spokesman.com/zags.

In any discussion of an athlete’s will to win and refusal to give up, the name Quentin Hall must be highly ranked.

All the way to the final seconds of his final game as a Gonzaga Bulldog, the 1999 West Regional finals, Hall believed he could somehow pull out a victory for the Zags against eventual national champion Connecticut.

When he was whistled for his fifth foul with 6.2 seconds remaining, Hall essentially had to be removed from the floor. He immediately raced to the scorer’s table to demand a recount.

Despite his protest, he was disqualified, and UConn stretched out the margin to the final of 67-62. He led the Zags in points (18) and rebounds (eight) and inspiration. Trash-talk and physical harassment were not recognized as official statistics back then.

The 5-foot-8 Bahamian point guard had reason to believe he could alter the course of the game. In the game’s final 7 minutes, he scored 13 of GU’s 15 points.

With 35 seconds left, the Zags down four, he got 6-foot-6, future NBA All-Star Rip Hamilton to leave his feet on a ball fake, to open space for the 3-pointer that closed the gap to a slender point.

That final 3-pointer was described in a column as a “double-clutched, side-armed improvisational masterpiece. All net.”

It wasn’t just Hall’s offense that played a crucial role. On defense, he dogged former McDonald’s All-American point guard Khalid El-Amin into 0-for-12 shooting and just five points.

In the era when the Zags wore comically baggy and long shorts, with a Bulldogs logo the size of a dinner plate on the thigh, Hall looked shorter than his listed 5-8.

“They say he’s 5-8, but he’s really probably about 5-6,” teammate Casey Calvary said after the game. “But it’s all heart. He’s incredible; he just wants to win more than anybody he plays against.”

Previous installments

It took Hall awhile to get to GU, so he was intent on making the most of it. Coach Mark Few traveled to the Caribbean to recruit him, and showed up at a sweltering blacktop court fully kitted in suit and tie.

But Few couldn’t get him directly into GU and steered him to North Idaho College. He later moved on to Yakima Valley College, where he had no scholarship, and worked as a dormitory janitor to earn his way.

Head coach Dan Monson knew that Hall was worth the wait. “He is, in my 11 years at Gonzaga, the best competitor we’ve ever had,” Monson said. “Quentin Hall has as much ‘winner’ in him as any kid I’ve ever seen.”

UConn came into that game as the West Region No. 1 seed. GU was No. 10.

That El-Amin was so highly regarded only made the challenge more personal for Hall.

“I came in with every intent to outplay him,” Hall said after the game. “No matter who it was, El-Amin, whoever, I wanted to outplay him.”

He did, but it wasn’t quite enough.

“I want to be remembered as a winner,” Hall said. “As somebody who always gave all he had and never gave up.”

Even if they have to drag him off the court.