Hall of a story

Mike Hall becomes “The Face” of ESPN’s new 24-hour all-college-sports network, ESPNU, tomorrow – a year after winning ESPN’s “Dream Job” contest and graduating from college (in that order).

“It will be a little bit of everything in terms of my role,” Hall said yesterday. “I’ll be the signature studio anchor, but there will also be some travel involved.”

That’s an understatement. Although ESPNU’s studios are based in Charlotte, N.C. (a terrific college town), Hall will be on the road a lot – and will open ESPNU’s inaugural broadcast tomorrow from Oklahoma State.

“We’ll have football, baseball and emerging sports that are gaining a groundswell of support like ice hockey and volleyball and have a tremendous, passionate following – we’ll capture that and show people the great stories out there,” Hall said. “To me, as a college sports fan, I can never get enough of it. College sports fans want to see their team as much as possible – there’s some passion that comes with following your college team that never goes away . . . It sticks with you more than your favorite professional team.

“There’s an electricity that, I think, warrants this network.”

* * *

The Good Doctor: Matthew Modine, who guest-starred Tuesday on “Law & Order: SVU,” returns the favor for “SVU” executive producer Neal Baer, who’s also an M.D., by emceeing the March 16 Young Audiences New York fundraiser.

The night will honor Baer and the late Gregory Hines, among others – with Robert DeNiro presenting an award to Hines’ children. Dick Lippin is among the corporate co-chairs of the event.

Last, but not least:

* Donald Trump will return to host “The Apprentice” for a fourth and fifth go-round, he told Neil Cavuto yesterday on Fox News Channel’s “Your World with Neil Cavuto.” “Well, I’ve just agreed, actually I just signed the contracts today,” Trump told Cavuto.

* Tuesday’s “NYPD Blue” series finale drew 16.1 million viewers – “Blue’s” best audience in over three years.

* Today: Maury Povich meets about 20 winners of a radio sweepstakes at The Palm Court (Plaza Hotel) for tea. The winners will also watch a taping of “Maury.”

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