Johnny Hill Closes It Out--Opts For A Missouri Valley School

By Roy & Harv Schmidt

9:00 A.M. CST

June 25, 2010

For those who aren't already aware, allow us to once again state the obvious--the entire coaching staff at Illinois State University can flat out recruit!  Not only that, but they also do an outstanding job of identifying talent that is suitable for their level. 

We say this in light of the fact that Redbird head coach Tim Jankovich and his staff have received their first commitment from the class of 2011, as 6'3 wing Johnny Hill closed things out last night.  Hill chose the Redbirds over offers from Loyola-Chicago, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Northern Illinois as well as considerable interest from other mid-major programs.

Hill is a tremendous athlete who we see as being the ultimate slasher.  He attacks the basket as well as anybody in the state for a player his size, can put the ball on the floor and consistently gets into the lane and to the rim.  In addition, he is a strong perimeter defender due to his length and ability to cover ground on the court.  While we consider Hill to be a streaky shooter, he does have range that extends beyond the 3-point arc and when he is in the groove can be extremely dangerous. 

The fact that Illinois State was able to close on Hill before the start of the July evaluation period is highly significant, as several other schools had started to up their level of recruiting interest.  However, the Redbirds were in on Hill early and were the first D1 school to offer him a scholarship, having done so all the way back in January.  There is no question that it was the ISU coaching staff's intention from the get-go to get this one done early.

While the entire Redbird coaching staff deserves an enormous amount of credit, no one was more instrumental in Hill's recruitment than assistant coach Paris Parham, to whom we extend huge kudos.  Parham was the first D1 assistant to identify Hill as a viable recruiting target, developed a strong relationship with Hill and his family from the beginning and stuck to Hill like glue throughout the entire recruiting process.  In fact, Parham was visible at a number of Hill's games during this past season, including every single one of Hill's contests in the Class 4A state tournament. 

Hill becomes the second class of 2011 recruit from Glenbard East to offer up a commitment to a D1 school, as 5'9 point guard Zach Miller chose Northern Illinois University just over a week ago.  Hill can be seen in action throughout the July evaluation period competing on the traveling team circuit for the Rising Stars Gold. 

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