2008 Woodie Awards
. . . Despite 'Player of the Year' effort from PC's lone senior
Ryan Holt '09
Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: Sports
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Hill, in his fifth year at PC, has used his final year-and-a-half of eligibility to make a name for himself, locally as well as nationally. Throughout this season, he has been mentioned by many respected college basketball analysts as one of the Big East and NCAAs premier big men.
"Herb just always loved the game," said Friars Head Coach Tim Welsh. "He knows what work ethic is."
Hill's five-year career has been one of transition. He came to PC a young 17-year-old from North Carolina thrust into an environment much different from home, far away from family and friends. It was difficult for him at first.
"He was a nice young man when he got here, but he was young," said Welsh.
Hill redshirted his first year at PC, and was able to refine his game a bit. In that year, Hill worked with teammates Karim Hayletts, Rome Augustin, and Ryan Gomes, PC's all-time leading scorer and now forward for the Boston Celtics. According to Hill, the relationships he formed with these teammates were key to his development, especially early on. His relationship with Gomes continues to this day.
"We spend a lot of time together working out over the summer," he said. "We keep in touch."
Still, the early years at PC were difficult. In his first year on the team, he didn't play much. The Friars made an NCAA run that year and already had a high-impact center in Marcus Douthit. Douthit, it can be argued, had a career much like Hill's, which included a surge in his senior season leading to a great run by the Friars. According to Welsh, Douthit took Hill under his wing. That year, he played in just 11 games, averaging just less than three minutes per game and only one point per game.
His second year saw a fight for playing time as the Friars signed another center, Randall Hanke. Hill played in all of the Friars' games that year, starting 20 of them. His points per game improved to just under five, and he pulled down just under four rebounds per game as well. He worked hard that year, as he did in years past, hard enough to win the team's Unsung Hero Award. However, at that point it looked like Hanke, not Hill, would be the Friars center of the future.