Hallman has covered everything throughout his 30-year career with the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. Stories on race and politics are commonplace, but one interview really stands out.
"Coretta Scott King, yeah, which I'd never forget, interviewed her one-on-one," he said.
Hallman could have had a different life. He grew up just a mile from Hitsville, U.S.A., Motown Records' original headquarters in Detroit, Michigan.
"And so walking home, yeah, you run into them all the time. I went to school with one of Aretha Franklin's sons, and then I went to school with Berry Gordy's niece and nephew, yeah, it was twins. And yeah, I went to school with some famous people," he said
Instead, Hallman went to Michigan State. It was there he found his calling.
"At orientation, I met some young ladies who played for the basketball team at Michigan State and we got to know each other. So they would tell me, 'Come watch the games,'" he said. "At that time, games were free. This was before the NCAA took over women's sports. So I watched the game and I enjoyed it. But there were nobody there covering them, you know. Wonder why."
Here's what Hallman won't tell you: He's been honored by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association; the University of Minnesota's Tucker Center put him on its Title IX Honor Roll; and he's been inducted into the U.S. Basketball Writer's Association's Hall of Fame.
That last honor proved to be a little much for Hallman. It's why he asked his retired pastor to bless him.
"He said, 'You'd never promoted yourself, you always put everybody ahead of you. So now God telling you, you need your reward now,'" he said. "And when he told me that, that made it a little bit easier. It's still hard."
On any given Friday night, you can find Hallman in the Target Center media room, several hours before the Minnesota Timberwolves tip-off. It's where WCCO's A.J. Hilton first met Hallman more than 20 years ago as a young college student.
www.cbsnews.com
