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The Sports Xchange

OVERVIEW

After missing most of the 2006-07 season with a broken foot, George Hill returned to the court recovered last season, showing the excellent scoring touch that he discovered during his sophomore campaign. Always an unselfish player, in addition to leading the team to a school-record 26 victories in 2007-08, as he averaged 21.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game en route to earning NCAA Division II Player of the Year honors.

In just over three seasons playing for the Jaguars, Hill ranks fourth in school history with 1,619 points scored and seventh with an average of 17.0 points per game. His 536 field goals made rank seventh and his 155 steals rank eighth in IUPUI annals, while his 547 rebounds rank ninth on the school career-record list.

At Broad Ripple High School, Hill averaged a state-leading 36.2 points per game as a senior, which stands as the fifth-highest single-season average in Indiana High School Athletic Association history. He was named to the prestigious Indiana All-Star Team, in addition to receiving City Player of the Year honors from The Indianapolis Star.

That season, he also averaged 7.5 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game, while hitting 78 percent from the foul line and 48 percent from the floor as a senior. He was named second-team All-State by the Associated Press and Senior All-State by The Indiana Basketball Coaches Association and the Louisville Courier Journal.

A two-time first-team All-State choice by Hoosier Basketball Magazine, Hill scored a career-high 48 points at Northview High during his final season. He averaged 23.6 points per game as a junior, and was named All-State honorable mention by the Associated Press. He was also selected as one of the top ten guards at the Adidas ABCD Camp following his junior season.

As a freshman at IUPUI, Hill was named to the five-man Mid-Continent Conference All-Newcomer Team. He played in 29 games, making 21 starts, as he averaged 10.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest. He led the team in free throws (61) made and ranked third on the team in scoring, rebounding, assists (65), steals (41), blocked shots (seven) and field goals (114). He led the team in scoring six times, rebounding eight times and assists five times, as he reached double-digits 15 times.

In 2005-06, Hill garnered first-team All-Mid Continent Conference honors from the league's coaches and media contingent. He was chosen as the team's Most Outstanding Player and ranked among the league leaders in scoring (18.9 points per game), rebounding (6.0 per game), field-goal percentage (51.8%), assists (3.6 per game), free-throw percentage (79.8%), steals (1.7 per game), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.31) and minutes played (35.1). He started all 29 games and scored in double-figures 25 times, including 17 games of at least 20 points.

Hill played in just five games in 2006-07 due to a broken foot suffered vs. Kent State. He scored 73 points (14.6 per game) with 27 rebounds (5.4 per game). He also came up with ten assists and two steals while logging 142 minutes of action.

Back for the 2007-08 campaign, the All-American and All-Summit League standout scored a career-high 688 points (21.5 per game), the seventh-best season total in school history. He made 220-of-404 field goals (54.5%), shooting 45.0% from 3-point range and 81.2% from the foul line. He doled out a career-high 137 assists (4.3 per game) with 57 steals (1.8 per game) and 216 rebounds (6.8 per game).

After the season, Hill chose to enter the 2008 NBA Draft. He became just the second underclassman in school history to apply for the draft, joining Carlos Knox (1997). "I'm excited," he said. "It's been my dream to play in the NBA and this takes me one step closer to making that dream a reality."

ANALYSIS

Positives: Smooth open-court runner who might not have great ball-handling skills to play the point, but his quickness and leaping ability help him compensate for a lack of size playing the two-guard position ... Uses his lateral agility, explosive first step and good arm length to slip past traffic to elevate above the rim to feather the ball into the basket, doing a nice job of taking his man off the dribble, as he gets lots of his points off screens and catch-and-shoot situations ... Defenders need to pressuring him on the perimeter, as he can quickly turn and shoot once he secures the pass ... Frontcourt types struggle quite a bit to stay with him, as he has a nice array of spin/pivot moves with an explosive crossover to fly past his man on the way to the basket ... Uses his frame well to power his way past defenders trying to block his shot around the basket ... Quick to fade back or change directions in attempts to separate from his man to get a cleaner shot ... When given space, he can be very consistent shooting behind the arc ... High-energy type on defense, using his lateral skills well on rotations ... Gets good elevation and shows nice form executing his jumper ... Can create his own shot, working hard to get to the rim and finish ... Moves well without the ball, doing a nice job of coming off screens to get other teammates involved ... Has confidence in his shot selection to want the ball in crunch time ... With his natural ball-handling skills, he is efficient taking his man off the dribble ... Despite his size, he attacks the basket, even when big forwards collapse on him ... Has a smooth, quick release and a high release point, showing good range firing up his 3-pointers (made 40.4% of those shots for his career, including 45% as a junior) ... Gets good elevation and sets his feet well with his pull-up jumper ... Has very good balance moving through traffic and is a valid free-throw shooter who uses his body well to draw contact on the way to getting opportunities at the foul line ... Good passer with the vision to bounce the ball out from defensive rotations ... Has a tight handle on the ball and comes off the dribble with good elevation to flip in a quick jumper ... More comfortable shooting the ball, but knows his size will limit him to playing the point at the next level and worked hard this offseason to improve his handle, showing at the Orlando pre-camp that he can control the tempo of the game and create scoring opportunities for others (just needs reps to get comfortable in the point guard role) ... Has good strength and times his leaps well crashing the boards, showing good second jump ability for putbacks and rebounds (averaged 5.8 rebounds for his career, including 6.8 rebounds per game as a junior) ... Keeps his hands active, coming up with steals in the passing lane ... Times his leaps well trying to alter or impede the perimeter player's shot selection.

Negatives: Played mostly at the two-guard spot and while he showed the ability to play the point at the Orlando pre-camp, he has minimal experience at the position ... Will over-dribble and hold on to the ball too long, looking for an open teammate instead of creating his own shot ... Tries to be "too perfect" in creating his own scoring opportunities and is a bit too deliberate making a decision with the ball in his hands (this lets the quicker guards take him off his element, resulting in a high turnover rate (had a career-high 94 turnovers, most coming off the dribble last season) ... Must do a better job of pressing the perimeter shooters (gives too much space at times) ... Not really an explosive open-court runner, but compensates with good change of direction and lateral agility ... Does not have that long wingspan to alter shots and while he has good leaping ability, his reach is not good enough to make an impact as a shot blocker ... Has a tight dribble, but will get out of control and leave the ball exposed when trying to drive past traffic ... Foot injury suffered in 2006-07 might scare off a few teams (reports state that he might have screws inserted).

Compares To: JAMEER NELSON-Orlando ... Like Nelson, Hill will have to sacrifice some of his scoring duties and learn how to play the point. There are not many 6-foot-1 shooting guards in the league and he lacks the blazing speed to cover speedy point men, but he did show in Orlando that he is improving his ability to control the tempo of the game and create scoring opportunities for others. He certainly could have used another year of schooling, especially since he never faced good competition during his college career.

CAREER NOTES

Ranks fourth in school history in scoring with 1,619 points, topped by Carlos Knox (2,556 points, 1994-1998), Aldray Gibson (2,454 points, 1983-1987) and Jesse Bingham (1,928 points, 1985-1989) ... His average of 17.0 points per game placed him seventh on the IUPUI all-time record chart ... His 536 field goals made (1,013 attempts, 52.9%) also rank seventh in school annals ... Shot 40.4% from 3-point range (90-of-223) ... Made 78.5% of his free throws (457-of-582) ... Grabbed 547 rebounds (5.8 per game), the ninth-best total in Jaguars annals ... His 188 steals (1.6 per game) rank eighth on the school record list, as he also had 317 assists (3.3 per game) and 29 blocked shots (0.3 per game).

2007-08 SEASON

Earned mid-major All-American honors from The NBA Draft Report, CollegeInsider.com, CollegeHoops.net and the Associated Press ... Named NCAA Division II Player of the Year, adding All-Summit League and league Player of the Year accolades ... Started all 32 games as a combo guard, leading the team in scoring with 688 points, the seventh-best season total in school history ... Averaged 21.5 points, 6.8 rebounds (216) and 4.3 assists (137) per game ... Shot 54.5% (220-of-404) percent from the floor and a team-high 45.0% from 3-point range (49-of-109), helping the Jaguars to a school record 26 wins ... Defensively, he led IUPUI with 57 steals (1.8 per game) and blocked 13 shots, as he averaged just under 37 minutes a night ... Scored in double figures in all 32 games, including 16 contests with at least 20 points per contest ... Produced eight double-double performances.

2007-08 GAME ANALYSIS

Opened the season with back-to-back 19-point games vs. Marquette and Indiana-South Bend ... Had 26 points (4-of-6 treys), nine rebounds and two assists vs. Alaska-Fairbanks, becoming the 18th player in school history to score over 1,000 points in a career ... Closed out the month of November with 29 points, four assists and ten rebounds in the Chicago State clash ... Added 30 points (4-of-5 treys), 10 rebounds, three steals and four assists vs. Massachusetts ... Posted 21 points with four assists vs. Western Michigan and 27 points with six boards vs. Indiana-Southeast ... Tallied 34 points, three steals and five rebounds vs. Missouri-Kansas City, followed by ten rebounds, six assists and 30 points (10-of-14 shooting) vs. Southern Utah ... Put in 33 points on 11-of-17 shooting that included four treys and five assists vs. IPFW ... Opened February with 23 points scored in each of the Missouri-Kansas City, South Dakota State and Centenary contests ... Poured in 33 points on 9-of-14 field goals, as he added seven assists, six rebounds and two steals vs. Northy Dakota State ... Tallied 32 points, making 11-of-17 field goals, as he grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds, handed out five assists and added two steals vs. Oakland ... Closed out his career with 24 points and five boards in a 71-64 loss to Oral Roberts.

2006-07 SEASON

Played in five games before he was granted a medical hardship ... Scored 73 points (14.5 per game) with 27 rebounds (5.4 per game), 10 assists and eight steals ... In the opening minute of the second half of the second game of the season vs. Kent State, Hill came to an awkward jump stop in front of the IUPUI bench and immediately grabbed his foot, suffering a bone fracture ... From that point on, Hill played in just three more games in December before deciding to sit the rest of the year...Led the team in scoring in three of his five contests, as he scored in double-digits four times.

2006-07 GAME ANALYSIS

Notched his seventh career double-double with 19 points and 15 rebounds vs. Fairleigh Dickinson ... Added a season-high 20 points in the season-opening win over Alabama A&M, marking his 20th career 20-point game, as he also matched his career-high with four steals in that contest.

2005-06 SEASON

Named All-Mid Continent Conference first-team and chosen the Jaguars' Most Out-standing Player...Ranked among the league leaders in scoring (18.9 ppg, 548 total), rebounding (6.0 rpg, 173 total), field goal percentage (51.8%, 175-of-338), assists (3.6 apg, 105 total), free throw percentage (79.8%, 182-of-228), steals (1.7 spg, 49 total), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.31) and minutes played (35.1)...One of two Jags to start all 29 games... Two-time Mid-Continent Player of the Week honoree (1/02 and 1/30)...Scored in double-figures 25 times, including 17 games of at least 20 points ... Chosen to the Mid-Continent All-Tournament Team after averaging 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists in the two games and also earned Academic All-Mid-Continent Conference honors...Named to the Academic Advisor's List for the spring semester.

2005-06 GAME ANALYSIS

Scored a season-high 32 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the win over Urbana ... Had four double-doubles including a 24-point, 13-rebound effort vs. Ball State...Set an IUPUI single-game record by hitting all 10 of his field goal attempts vs. Missouri-Kansas City ... Tied an IUPUI record by hitting all 11 free-throw attempts in the Ball State game...Scored the game-winner (five-foot jumper) with 2.1 seconds left in IUPUI's win vs. Rice...Hit a season-high four treys (in six attempts) at Oakland.

2004-05 SEASON

Mid-Continent Conference All-Newcomer Team selection...Played in 29 games, making 21 starts, as he averaged 10.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest...Led the team in free throws (61) made...Ranked third on the team in scoring, rebounding, assists (65), steals (41), blocked shots (7) and field goals (114)...Led the team in scoring six times, rebounding eight times and assists five times...Reached double-digits 15 times, including a career-high 26 points on two separate occasions.

INJURY REPORT

2006-07: Broke his foot in the second game of the season vs. Kent State (11/11), causing him to play in just five games all year and forcing him to apply for a hardship waiver...Returned for a three-game stint in December before deciding to sit the rest of the year.

HIGH SCHOOL

Attended Broad Ripple (Indianapolis, Ind.) High School, where he averaged a state-leading 36.2 points per game as a senior, which stands as the fifth-highest single-season average in Indiana High School Athletic Association history ... Named to the prestigious Indiana All-Star Team, in addition to receiving City Player of the Year honors from The Indianapolis Star ... That season, he also averaged 7.5 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game, while hitting 78 percent from the foul line and 48 percent from the floor as a senior ... Named second-team All-State by the Associated Press and Senior All-State by The Indiana Basketball Coaches Association and the Louisville Courier Journal ... Two-time first-team All-State choice by Hoosier Basketball Magazine, Hill scored a career-high 48 points at Northview High during his final season ... Averaged 23.6 points per game as a junior, and was named All-State honorable mention by the Associated Press ... Also selected as one of the top ten guards at the Adidas ABCD Camp following his junior season.

PERSONAL

Business major ... Resides in Indianapolis, Indiana.