SAN DIEGO – Darren Hall (football) and Asia Smith (track and field) have been named the San Diego State Student-Athletes of the Year.
The prestigious annual award goes to a male and female student-athlete who possess a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20, display superior character and leadership and are outstanding citizens and role models.
Hall (Pasadena, Calif.), a cornerback, was recently drafted in the fourth round (108th overall) by the Atlanta Falcons. He started the final 19 games of his career and was a 2020 All-Mountain West First Team selection after leading the conference in pass deflections and passes defended.
Hall was on the 2020 Jim Thorpe Award Watch List, given annually to the best defensive back in the nation, this past season and was a Mountain West honorable mention selection in 2019.
Hall graduated with a degree in communications in just three years and was working towards a master's in education counseling prior to being drafted. He is a four-time SDSU scholar-athlete and three-time selection to the Mountain West All-Academic Team.
Throughout his time at SDSU, Hall has exemplified the cornerstones of what it means to be an Aztec football student-athlete: character, discipline, and physical and mental toughness.
Smith (Escondido, Calif.), who recently graduated with a degree in communications, is a pentathlete and heptathlete. She won the pentathlon at the 2020 Mountain West Indoor Championships with 4,075 points, the second-most in school history. Her performance earned her All-American honors and qualified her for the NCAA Championships before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Smith's other athletic accomplishments include: three-time All-Mountain West honoree, 2020 USTFCCCA All-Academic Team and two-time (soon to be three) Mountain West All-Academic Team.
Smith has been an active member of SAAC throughout her time at SDSU and was the president for the 2020-21 school year after serving as the treasurer the year prior. She has also served on the student-athlete leadership council.
She coordinated SAAC's Black History Month social media campaign and their videos for Women's History Month. Smith has also helped raise money for the American Heart Association's "Go Red for Women Campaign," volunteered for "Read Across America," participated in the annual "Shop with a Jock" charity event and given leadership presentations to local elementary and middle schools.
Smith will be attending graduate school next year and pursuing a master's in journalism.
Hall & Smith Named SDSU Student-Athletes of the Year
