It’s great to have homegrown, hometown pride, with Malcolm Hill and Ayo Dosunmu both currently on the Chicago Bulls roster. Said Illinois Fighting Illini Head Coach Brad Underwood: “It’s pretty cool seeing two Illini on our state [NBA] team.”
With that in mind, We give you a two part series, focusing on each player. We now move on to Malcolm Hill, widely considered (along with fellow Illini Rayvonte Rice) to be one of the most accomplished and talented college players never to have experienced a NCAA Tournament game.
(For the Ayo Dosunmu piece go here)
It just shows you how far the Illini program has come since the disaster hire of John Groce. If you’re looking to be on the current Illini tonight, with a 1xbet bonus then you’ll typically be given +5.5 at #3 Purdue. This is a massive game, basically, the Big Ten title game part 2 (regular season style) at Mackey Arena tonight.
Illinois has a real chance of winning at a place that’s very difficult for visitors to come away with the W, and they look to be a good bet on the money line.
Bullish Sentiment
You know Hill will be rooting for his Illini tonight, as he works on game prep with the Bulls, for their game at the Charlotte Hornets tomorrow night.
The route that Hill took to get to the league, and with the team in his home state, was anything but orthodox.
Take a look at the professional CV of Malcolm Hill via his Wikipedia page:
| 2017 | Star Hotshots |
|---|---|
| 2017–2018 | Telekom Baskets Bonn |
| 2018–2019 | MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg |
| 2019–2020 | BC Astana |
| 2020–2021 | Hapoel Jerusalem |
| 2021 | Birmingham Squadron |
| 2021–2022 | Atlanta Hawks |
| 2022–present | Chicago Bulls |
| 2022–present | ?Windy City Bulls |
He’s Known as the Globe Trotter
Germany, Israel, the Phillippines, Kazakhstan (cue Borat voice), and the ever so exotic Atlanta Hawks, the Belleville, Illinois native has “been everywhere man,” as Johnny Cash would sing.
Malcolm Hill is currently on a two way contract with the Bulls, which means you will likely see him shuffling back and forth between the parent club, and their G League affiliate in suburban Hoffman Estates.
According to Underwood, Hill is still around the Illini program quite a bit. He comes back around to the facilities a lot, and visits the office every now and then.
He’s been as talented and as accomplished as they come, on all levels, as his prep career saw him finish third in Mr. Illinois Basketball voting, behind only Simeon’s Jabari Parker and Whitney Young’s Jahlil Okafor.
Going Baseline
Underwood described him as an “elite scorer, a guy who has really transformed his body in the last two or three years as a pro, a knock ’em down shooter, someone they have a lot of faith in at the defensive end.”
It’s a very pretty sight- watching Hill knock down that side pocket three-ball in red and black now, just like he always used to do in blue and orange.
It also says a lot about what an awful coach John Groce truly was, when you see Hill and Kendrick Nunn making it in the NBA, but both had to to go elsewhere, after Illinois, before making it to the league.
(Although U of I was definitely just in kicking Nunn out of school at the time)
Illini swing man and role player Jacob Grandison saw Malcolm Hill in the TBT (The Basketball Tournament), and he’s drawn inspiration from his story.
“Against all odds, he somehow found a way to make a NBA roster,” said Grandison.
“I guess that says something about Illinois and just being tough and not giving up.
“He played overseas, the G League, and stayed on the right path.”
Indeed Hill is a prime example to all basketball players on the fringe, who are still trying to make it.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.