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    Hill 4/23

April 22, 2007

Mavs recruit shines at all-star basketball game

By Chad Courrier

ST PETER — Fake left, cut right. A quick crossover followed by a bullet pass for a layup.

At 5-foot-9, Marcus Hill is never going to score points by posting up. But by being quicker and smarter than his opponent, Hill is effective.

“I use my quickness to get my teammates involved,” said Hill, who signed last fall to play basketball at Minnesota State next season. “I know I can’t play with the big boys, but I’m out to show that size doesn’t matter.”

Hill participated in an all-star boys basketball game Sunday at Gustavus Adolphus’ Gus Young Court, leading his team to a 60-47 victory with an MVP performance of 16 points, two rebounds, three assists and four steals. He hit two 3-pointers, but the majority of his effectiveness came off the dribble.

“I like to play in transition,” Hill said. “In the halfcourt, there are some big trees inside so I need to work on my jump shot and ballhandling.”

Hill was Breck’s starting point guard for four seasons, leading his team to an 81-29 record in that time with a Class AA runner-up finish in 2006. He scored 1,630 points in his career, and he also had 769 assists and 203 steals. He averaged 17.7 points, 6.5 assists and 2.7 steals last season

“He pushes the ball extremely well,” said Minnesota State coach Matt Margenthaler, who watched Sunday’s game. “You need to put a couple of good wings out there that can score because he’ll put them in position to score.”

Hill said he plays basketball every day, pouring his passion into the only game he plays. It’s that passion that attracted him to Minnesota State.

“The tradition, they’ve had winning records that last few years,” Hill said. “I’ve got a great relationship with Coach, he’s the kind of coach you want to play for. I just wanted to go somewhere that I had a chance to play, that’s all you can ask for, to be part of a great program.”

The Mavericks are losing point guards Tony Thomason and Paris Kyles. Redshirt freshman Jesse Clark played about 16 minutes per game and averaged 1.8 points, though he had a team-high 11 assists.

“Marcus has an opportunity to step in and get playing time early in his career,” Margenthaler said. “He and Jesse will compete, but Jesse has two years’ experience. Marcus is going to have to come in and be a leader. He’s played on winning teams, he’s been a leader.

“We’ve never had a guard as small as Marcus. He has a knack for scoring, he hits the open shots. He can create, but he’s also going to have to show that he can score at the next level.”

Notes

Mankato Loyola’s Bob Beadell, who played on the same team as Hill, had three points and two rebounds. On the opposing team, Maple River’s Paul Larson had nine points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Maple River’s Elijah Blakesley, who has also signed with Minnesota State, had two points, five rebounds and two blocked shots.

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