Banner Recruiting Weekend At University Of Illinois Culminates With 2013 Commitment From In-State 2-Guard

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

September 12, 2011

7:30 P.M. CST

A huge recruiting weekend at the University Of Illinois has ended up paying huge dividends for head coach Bruce Weber and his assistants.  That is because the Illini have landed two for the price of one as 6'5 2013 2-guard Malcolm Hill from Belleville East High School in Belleville, IL has committed after taking an unofficial visit to the Champaign campus this past weekend.  The commitment was confirmed by Southwest Illinois Jets traveling team coach Dana Morgan.

Hill's commitment comes right on the heels of a 2012 pledge that the Illini received earlier today from 6'2 2012 point guard Michael Orris from Crete-Monee.  He becomes Weber's second commit from the 2013 class, joining 6'3 point guard Jalen James from Hope Academy in Chicago.

The fact that the Illini coaching staff was able to close things out with Hill at this time is highly significant, as Hill's recruitment was continuing to pick up considerable steam.  Just this past Friday Xavier, Kansas State, DePaul and Southern Illinois were at Hill's high school at 6 AM along with Illinois to watch him in a workout. 

Besides taking his unofficial to Illinois, Hill had also visited Xavier and had talked about also venturing to Kansas State and Tennessee.  Needless to say, those later two trips will now not take place.  Another school that had offered and had been long thought to be a frontrunner for Hill along with the Illini was Missouri.  However, rumors of head coach Frank Haith's job status which surfaced after the recruiting scandal at Miami-Florida was exposed may have taken the Tigers out of the running.

After 6'2 Kendrick Nunn from Simeon Career Academy in Chicago committed to Texas A&M early last month, Hill immediately became the top recruiting priority in 2013 at the 2-guard position for Weber and the Illini.  And with that being said, the entire staff followed up and stayed with Hill every step of the way.  As a result, when Hill completed his unofficial visit which included meeting with the coaching staff as well as spending time with current Illini players and taking in the football team's romp over South Dakota State, he knew that Illinois was the place for him.

Hill was our Summer Award winner as the player who we believe has the best feel for the game of any player in the state this side of Jabari Parker.  He first burst onto the scene with the Southwest Illinois Jets 16-Under traveling team this past Spring at the Battle For The Arch in St. Louis and since then consistently turned in outstanding performances throughout the summer, including during the all-important July evaluation period. 

Hill does an outstanding job of letting the game come to him and combines a strong work ethic with tremendous basketball smarts.  Skill-wise, he is highly athletic, is outstanding in the open floor (both offensively and defensively) and consistently attacks the basket.  As a result, Hill is an excellent mid-range scorer.  Not only can Hill put the ball on the floor, but he is also a jumping jack with a great nose for the ball which makes him extremely tough on the glass.  It is for all of these reasons that Hill unquestionably ranks among our top five players in Illinois from the loaded class of 2013 and the second best 2-guard prospect in the state behind Nunn.

In addition to the Illini coaching staff, perhaps the person who deserves the most kudos for helping to secure Hill's commitment is James, who was constantly in Hill's ear trying to get him to join him as part of the Illini's 2013 recruiting class.  While James was not able to accompany Hill on his unofficial visit this weekend as he originally intended, at that point there was not much more convincing that needed to be done.

******************************************************************************************

We welcome comments regarding this story or any other entry published by Illinois Prep Bulls-eye.  They can be made by e-mailing us at royandharv@ilprepbullseye.com. 

Continue to check in with Illinois Prep Bulls-eye for all of the latest as it pertains to high school basketball and recruiting in Illinois.