Wisconsin-Milwaukee Lands Two Key Chicago Recruits

June 9, 2009 

4:30 P.M. CST

There are very few head coaches at the mid-major level outside the state of Illinois that have stronger connections in Chicago than University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee head coach Rob Jeter.  That is why he continues to recruit extremely well in the Windy City, as evidenced by the fact that today the Panthers received verbal commitments from a pair of class of 2010 recruits from Vocational High School in Chicago--6'0 point guard Hollis Hill and 6'5 power forward Aaron Williams. 

Both Hill and Williams began to carve reputations this past season when they led Vocational to a pair of wins over conference rival and perennial Chicago Public League power Simeon.  In addition, Vocational also advanced to the sectional round of the class 4A state tournament.

Hill is a scorer first and foremost, as he is an outstanding shooter from 3-point range and is also quite adept at getting to the basket and either finishing or drawing fouls.  However, we believe that his ball handling and playmaking skills are much better than most people give him credit for, as he has the ability to drive and dish and simply makes things happen offensively.  Although he is often used as a shooting guard on his high school team, we do not see him having any problem making the transition to point guard in the Horizon League whatsoever.

Williams is a terrific athlete whose forte is his high skill level around the basket.  He is extremely strong on the glass and is also a consistent scorer in the paint area.  In addition, Williams can also put the ball on the floor and now needs to improve his perimeter shooting, as he looks to be primarily a "3" at the next level.

Hill and Williams both compete on the traveling team circuit with Old Gold.  To top everything off, they are also both academic qualifiers.  Above everything else, their strong relationship with Jeter and the opportunity to remain relatively close to home ended up being the main factors behind their decisions.

In addition to Jeter, credit must also go to Panther assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Brian Bidlingmyer, who (along with Jeter) has been instrumental in UWM's success when it comes to recruiting the Chicago area.  The Panthers also remain heavily involved with a number of big men in the class of 2010 from Illinois, including 6'10 Jordan Threloff from De Kalb High School in De Kalb, IL, 6'8 Tim Rusthoven from Wheaton Academy in Wheaton, IL and 6'10 Fred Heldring from New Trier High School in Winnetka, IL.

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