Longtime Gwinnett Basketball Coach Dies

DACULA, GA - Phil Hall and his wife never had children of their own, but he had a big family.

The longtime Gwinnett coach, who passed away Thursday afternoon, had plenty of daughters through his longtime coaching career. He passed away suddenly while mowing the grass at his Dacula home, according to the Gwinnet Daily Post.

“Anybody who played for him became his daughter,” said Jeanette Pierce, one of his former players at North Gwinnett, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post. “He always looked after them after that.”

Hall, a 1966 Dacula grad, was 71. He is survived by his wife Diane, a longtime elementary school teacher.

He is known well for his decades as a successful basketball coach in his native Gwinnett, both at North Gwinnett High School and Dacula. He led the North girls program for more than 20 years before spending five years before his retirement at Dacula, where he is a member of the high school’s hall of fame. He also is in North Gwinnett’s athletics hall of fame, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

At both schools, Hall was appreciated by his players for how much he cared about them off the basketball court. Pierce, who played for Hall her final two seasons at North, went on to coach with Hall and then succeeded him as the Bulldogs’ head girls basketball coach.

For more about Hall's legacy go here.