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 Michael Hallin, a standout on Mark Morris' 2002 team that finished third in state, is helping lead LCC's men's basketball team to a run at the NWAACC Western Division title. Bill Wagner / The Daily News
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Remodeling his life: LCC's Michael Hallin is headed in right direction after 2002 arrest
Sunday, January 27, 2008 5:56 AM PST
By Rick McCorkle
Printable version
E-mail this articleMichael Hallin is working hard to rebuild his life, using hammer and nails as well as schoolbooks and a basketball.
The Lower Columbia College sophomore and former Mark Morris basketball player was a likable kid with good parents and a solid upbringing. But one night of straying outside the law cost Hallin nearly all of what he’d taken for granted.
“I was a typical teenager who got into a little trouble, but more when I got older,” the 23-year-old Hallin said. “I didn’t realize the big picture or what I was given. There are people who are less fortunate than I am. I had everything I needed. I took advantage of it.”
Hallin is turning his life around. He’s a key member of the LCC men’s basketball team that’s making a run at an NWAACC Western Division title, and he’s closing in on a degree in construction management. He hopes to one day become an on-site supervisor for a Portland contractor.
“I’ve done construction since I was 8 years old,” Hallin said. “My dad has a lot of experience in it.”
Although he knows he has to start at the bottom of his chosen profession, Hallin doesn’t want to stay there forever.
“I don’t want to be the one pounding the nails, but the one overseeing it,” he said. “(My dad) works for a construction company in Portland, and I might have a job opportunity when I graduate.”
Jail time changed him
A life-altering decision in March of 2002 changed Hallin’s life.
One day after enjoying the accolades of helping Mark Morris to a third-place finish at the Class 3A state tournament in the Tacoma Dome, Hallin was out driving and ran into a friend.
They pulled over and talked.
A Washington State Patrol officer stopped by the car to see if they needed assistance.
“The other guys took off … she (the officer) could smell pot in the car,” Hallin said. “The car was searched, they found some and it went from there.”
The 18-year-old Hallin was arrested on suspicion of marijuana possession.
Hallin, an honor student at MM, received a 45-day sentence with 30 days converted to community service after admitting to possession of about 100 grams of marijuana.
“They gave me the whole run-through and I did time in jail. I paid my debt to society and I still regret it,” he said.
His 15 days of jail time during the Fourth of July gave him time to ponder his future.
“I thought a lot about turning it all around,” Hallin said. “I couldn’t believe what I had done to myself. My parents were vacationing in Hawaii, it was the Fourth of July and I was watching fireworks on TV in jail. It hit me quick and that kind of trouble isn’t something to mess with.”
He was really embarrassed for his parents and family.
“I had disappointed them,” Hallin said. “I can take criticism and scrutiny, but I was embarrassed for my parents because they did a great job raising me, my brothers and sister. They always helped me my entire life and have always been supportive of me. I was doing so well, then to get in trouble, have it in the newspaper and have people saying stuff to my parents was the worst.”
Hallin’s jail time helped him rearrange his priorities, he said.
“A lot of things that you think matter in life don’t really matter,” he said. “I thought I could do whatever I wanted and not be responsible.”
Second chance on the court
After stints at construction jobs in Vancouver and Portland, along with attending classes at Clark College, Hallin decided to return to Longview and enroll at LCC.
“I had a good job working for my uncle and was making decent money ($17 an hour) for an 18-19 year-old kid, but I realized it was something I didn’t want to do for the rest of my life,” he said. “I liked the atmosphere at LCC, and a couple of friends from high school were playing on the basketball team. They talked me into trying out.”
But Hallin wasn’t sure he could compete at the college level against players four years younger.
“I was playing in the city league, but I didn’t know if I could get back in shape to play on the college team,” he said. “I thought running with the young guys would be difficult, but after I came in and scrimmaged with Jimmy (LCC coach Jim Roffler) and Roosevelt (assistant coach Roosevelt Smith), they talked me into coming out for the team and getting in shape.”
Hallin appeared in nine of LCC’s 31 games last season, which reminded him of a similar situation in high school when he played for the Monarchs.
“I didn’t get much playing time as a junior, but as a senior I had tremendous games and it felt good,” he said. “Last year we had a lot of talent, but it didn’t pan out as much as it should’ve.”
His sophomore season almost ended prematurely when he left the team prior to the season.
“Jimmy and I had our differences and we got into it, so I left the team,” Hallin said. “At one point I thought it wasn’t going to happen for me, because I didn’t want to end up like last season where I put in a lot of time and didn’t get much time back in return.”
Team captain Robert Edwards and a couple of other teammates talked Hallin into rejoining the team.
“I felt I owed it to them to stay around, but I didn’t think I’d be helping as much as I have. I knew this was probably going to be my last chance, and I didn’t want to be 40 and thinking that I should’ve played this season and gave it my all.”
Hallin’s numbers have been impressive. Besides starting 18 of LCC’s 20 games (through Friday), he’s second on the team in scoring (13.5), is shooting at a 60-percent clip and is among the elite rebounders in the NWAACC at nearly eight per game.
“Michael has shown a lot of improvement since last season,” Roffler said. “We had some guys returning last season who played the same position, so he had trouble cracking minutes. He came back and worked hard with conditioning in the preseason, which put him in a position to become a starter.”
Roffler isn’t surprised with Hallin’s sophomore success.
“Being an older player, Michael’s had a sense of knowing what he has to do,” he said. “He does a nice job getting to the right place at the right time, and understands our program and the nuances of what we’re trying to do. It all lends to being a step ahead and being in the right spots.”
Despite his on-court success, Hallin isn’t sure if he wants to continue playing at the four-year level. He’s on track to graduate from LCC at the end of winter quarter in mid-March.
“I’ll pursue an education whether I start the job or not, and I can still take night classes if I take the construction job,” he said. “Education is important in my family. One of my brothers is a lawyer and another is a chiropractor. My mom is well-educated and is a teacher. I’m young and can go back and do it, but I don’t want to waste too many years of my life.”
No matter what happens, Hallin feels he has made big strides as a person in the past six years.
“I’m happy with the way my life has turned around and where I’ve come to from where I was at,” he said. “I’m mad it happened, but it has made me a stronger person.”
Rick McCorkle is a sportswriter for The Daily News. He can be reached at 577-2529.
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