FAYETTEVILLE — It seems likely Little Rock Christian sophomore star Justice Hill would be making some highlight plays on the football field this season if he had decided to stay on the gridiron.
After all, the 2019 Arkansas basketball commit quarterbacked his junior high football team to a 10-0 mark as a freshman and even played some varsity snaps late last season when the Warriors went 12-1.
But after committing to play basketball for the Razorbacks, Hill has decided to focus to give up the game around which he grew up. His father, Fitz, was a former assistant football coach at Arkansas and head coach at San Jose State.
“Really I thought it was good for this upcoming year to give it up, especially because of the new conference (5A Central) we are in and how we don’t have as much experience as we did last year and I am going to have to carry more of the load,” Hill said. “I thought if I got off the football field, I would be able to develop more of my basketball game.”
His father admits that it took him a few minutes to comprehend that decision.
“It took me a minute, but my wife told me to get over it,” Fitz Hill said. “We were at a camp - the John Lucas Basketball Camp - and he told me, ‘Dad, I would like to spend a whole year playing basketball and see if I can really improve my game on a consistent basis.’
“He said, ‘If I don’t then I am going to play football from the first of August to probably December. Then it takes me six weeks to get in basketball shape and then high school is over. Then by May, I am okay for AAU season, but can I just play basketball because it is what I want to do in college.’
“It was a very mature decision, a very mature discussion and I support it 100 percent even though when he was born I had something else in mind.”
The Hills, who took in Arkansas’ basketball practice last Saturday, are excited about the future of Razorback hoops under coach Mike Anderson.
That includes a trio of four-star 2017 prospects in El Dorado center Daniel Gafford (6-11, 223 pounds), Little Rock Parkview guard Khalil Garland (6-6, 190) and Little Rock Mills small forward Darious Hall (6-7, 210).
Arkansas has also landed four 2018 pledges - Thomasville, Ga., center Reggie Perry (6-10, 225), Little Rock Parkview forward Ethan Henderson (6-9, 190), Fort Smith Northside guard Isaiah Joe (6-2, 170) and Jonesboro guard Desi Sills (6-2, 180).
The underclassmen commits are all AAU teammates of Hill’s. He helped recruit all of them after he committed to the program in February.
“It is an exciting process,” Justice Hill said. “It’s fantastic to get the other guys to commit. It feels great to know that I am going to get to play with the same guys I do in AAU ball and some of the guys that are already up here now.”
Perry lived in Little Rock through the eighth grade before moving first to Tallahassee, Fla. and then on to Georgia.
“We are all really close,” Hill said. “Reggie - that’s a really big get because he is down there from Florida and Georgia and I know he really liked Florida State a lot.
“But he has been around us enough and we talked to him enough so our relationship is really good and we wanted him to play up here with us.”
Fitz Hill sees a great chemistry among the AAU teammates.
“Those kids love each other,” Fitz Hill said. “They love playing with each other. It’s all new to me being a football coach, but to travel with them and go see them you can tell they love playing together, but they are also very talented.
“To be able to go all over the country and play teams like Compton Magic - who has kids from all over California - and then we go out and really kind of dominate them. It kind of took a little notice for me and I said, ‘Hey, this is a team that can compete nationally with this homegrown talent.’
“…To have all this talent from Arkansas at one time is interesting and the best thing is they line up at the one, two, three, four and the five. That’s what is rare.
“Normally you may get a couple of threes and two big men, but the numbers work and the puzzle just fits. It is exciting to look at the future of what can be - homegrown basketball talent. I am looking forward to it.”
Fitz Hill likes what he sees out of the current Razorbacks.
“I see quality depth and quality athleticism,” he said. “The SEC is full of athleticism and we always talk about the athletes that are in this conference.
“I think that inspires Justice to want to go to the gym and work harder because he is part of the family even though he is not officially here.
“It is exciting for him to know what he is going to do and where he is going to do it.”
“I am so excited for Coach Anderson and the program because the future is bright and knowing what is on tap because we play a lot of the guys that we are going to play.”