Countdown to Kickoff: 10 Days (Donavan Hale)

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

#10

Loyal readers, it’s getting real now. The 2016 season is only ten days away! The Indiana Hoosiers will be battling the Florida International Panthers in just ten days and the Hoosier Huddle Countdown is ready to finish the “offseason” strong as we preview one of the better athletes on the roster: sophomore Donavan Hale!

Donavan Hale

-Height: 6’4”
-Weight: 217 pounds
-Hometown: Largo, Florida
-Position: Wide Receiver

Donavan Hale, a 6’4” athlete from the Sunshine State, came to Indiana after a tremendous two-sport career at Largo High School. Hale excelled at both football and basketball and chose IU over offers from Louisville, Minnesota, Syracuse and Wisconsin. During his senior season of high school, Hale ran for 224 yards with five touchdowns and threw for nearly 1,500 yards with nine touchdowns. He stood out enough on the basketball court to earn scholarship offers from major schools to be a shooting guard. His athleticism made for quite a bit of intrigue surrounding what position Hale would end up playing for the Hoosiers. Would he be a wide receiver? Maybe he’d switch to defense and play safety or even linebacker? Turns out, the coaches were impressed enough with his arm to give him a shot at quarterback during fall camp. 

Hale ended up playing in ten games and catching one pass for ten yards. He also returned two kicks, both against Ohio State, for 22 yards. He didn’t end up throwing a pass and his positional future was unclear heading into the spring. However, Hale remained at quarterback during spring practices and it appears the coaches are going to keep him there for the 2016 season. In the time between spring ball and the beginning of practice, things changed and Hale asked the coaches if he could permanently make the move to wide receiver. He wanted to help the team and he felt his best chance to do that was at wideout. He’s a dynamic athlete with huge hands and he’s shown the ability to consistently catch the ball in practice. The potential is there for Hale to be an impact receiver in his final three seasons in Bloomington. Injuries to J-Shun Harris and Isaac Griffith have made the path to 2016 playing time a bit clearer for Hale. He’s definitely behind the first three of Simmie Cobbs, Ricky Jones and Mitchell Paige and I think it’s fair to say he is behind fellow sophomore Nick Westbrook. However, Kevin Wilson has made it clear that he intends to play nine or ten players at the position and that Hale has been included in that group. He’ll be competing for snaps with Luke Timian, Isaac James, Taysir Mack and Kiante Enis. Hale will definitely see the field in 2016 and he will likely be relied upon for very significant snaps in 2017 and beyond. Just how much he plays this season will depend on how quickly he can adapt to his new position and how well his relationship with the quarterback develops.

Share your thoughts on Donavan Hale in our comments section (or on the message boards) and be sure to come back to Hoosier Huddle each day as the 2016 season inches ever closer!