Why Charles Hallman dedicates his life to local Black youth, journalism

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - When Charles Hallman first came to Minnesota, he thought he would put in two years and be gone due to the harsh winters. 

But after meeting his wife, finding a team he would enjoy coaching and a paper that would let him write as his heart desired, Hallman has been around and on basketball courts since he can remember and has no plans on stopping anytime soon. 

‘He’s a Legend’

What they're saying:

After decades of covering basketball in the Twin Cities, Hallman was inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writer’s Hall of Fame. 

"It means a lot. I got coached by him, and he’s a big part of South High School History," Ladante Dahlberg said about his basketball coach. 

"He’s like famous to me," David Walker said, describing his coach after he found out about his journalism job. 

Despite never coming to Minnesota to be a basketball coach, Hallman has been a mainstay on the South High School sidelines as he tries to teach the next generation about more than X’s and O’s. 

"I’m not just a coach. I’m a psychologist sometimes, a father figure sometimes, I’m a disciplinarian at times," Hallman said. 

That’s why Hallman and the other coaches do daily grade checks of their young athletes, helping shape a standard that will help them when they no longer play basketball. 

"If they fail in basketball, and they fail in other areas, then they’re never going to be successful." 

Hallman does more than preach to his athletes. He shows them every day with his work ethic how he balances the two things he loves, basketball and writing.

The backstory:

"Some people don’t think that we can be journalists, and that started all back in college." Hallman recalls a time during college when he mentioned his dreams of becoming a journalist.

"I had a college professor tell me I wasn’t going to be a journalist, you don’t know this, you can’t do this," he said. 

Luckily for Hallman, he was stubborn and set out to prove that professor and every doubter wrong.

"I’m a Black journalist and I carry myself as that, and I’ll compete with anybody," Hallman said.

"I thank God every day that I have the strength, and he blessed me to be able to do what I do," Hallman said. "I know one day I’m not going to be able to do this, and so as long as I have strength in my body, I’m going to keep doing what I do."

‘You’re going to fail, but don’t let failure stop you’

Dig deeper:

Hallman would eventually get a job with the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder where he had would have the opportunity to cover thousands of basketball games, the Obama inauguration and so much more. Hallman said none of that would have been possible if he gave up. 

"I got a picture of me sitting between Sid Hartmann and Charlie Waters in the front row," Hallman said, thinking back on some of his fondest memories. "I ain’t supposed to be in that front row, I’m supposed to be in the back somewhere, but my mother taught me you never sit in the back, you sit in the front and so that’s what I do."