The Washington Wizards might be perfect for Jordan Hill, if for no other reason than he’s gone through as many coaches as Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell.
The 6-foot-10 power forward had a different coach in each of his three years at Arizona: Lute Olson, Kevin O’Neill and Russ Pennell. He also spent his senior year of high school at the Patterson School and played only AAU ball in the 11th grade, as he wasn’t eligible for his high school team in Atlanta.
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Hill, who turns 22 next month, didn’t start playing basketball until the ninth grade, but after 18.3 points and 11 rebounds per game as a college junior, he’s widely regarded as second-best in the country at his position, projected solidly in the first 10 picks of next week’s NBA draft.
“I’m very overwhelmed because I came from nothing,” said Hill after Thursday’s solo workout for the Wizards. “Now, all of a sudden I’m just up on the radar. I’m surprised, but I knew I could do it. I just wanted to have the heart and the passion to play basketball.”
Hill also overcame the death of his mother, Carol Hunter, from breast cancer when he was three, and bouncing around multiple homes growing up. Lately, he’s got plenty of new cousins he didn’t know he had.
“I do have family that’s trying to get on my side, do all this and that,” said Hill, whose three-year-old son, Jordan Hill, Jr., will also be by his side on Thursday at Madison Square Garden. “They’re still my family, but I know who’s been there for me.”
And when it comes to his game, Hill prefers to be described as big man with quick feet, who can shoot, run the floor, and rebound, rather than be compared to Amare Stoudemire, Chris Bosh or Chris Wilcox.
There was at least some indication Hill made his point during his Wizards workout, eliciting head coach Flip Saunders’ trademark glance at team president Ernie Grunfeld, the one that says, “You see what I’m talking about?”
“I never thought I would be here,” said Hill. “But I never doubted myself … just thinking back to what I went through in my life, and I’m really here now, so I just have to keep working.”
