Justice Hill grew up dreaming about playing for the University of Arkansas.
He also grew up on the football field with his dad Fitz, who was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Razorbacks before becoming the head coach at San Jose State.
As a ninth-grader, Justice committed to Mike Anderson and the Razorbacks and never wavered.
That's the way he was raised. Your word is your bond.
Hill passed up his senior year of high school basketball and enrolled for the second semester at the UA to begin working out with the team.
At the end of the basketball season, Anderson was terminated and Eric Musselman was hired.
Musselman has the reputation of not wanting to play freshmen, preferring more experienced players.
Last season at Nevada, he had five-star recruit and McDonald's All-American Jordan Brown, who averaged 10 minutes a game as a freshman for the Wolf Pack.
After Musselman announced he was taking the Arkansas job, Brown put his name in the transfer portal and settled on Arizona.
After consulting with his dad, Hill also decided to put his name in the transfer portal, and he had interest from schools such as Auburn, Memphis and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Musselman, who understands and appreciates the transfer portal as much as anyone, wished him the best.
Last week, Hill announced he is transferring to Salt Lake Community College in Utah.
That sounds like an odd place for Hill to transfer, but in reality it isn't.
Mike Conley Jr. is like his older brother -- Mike Conley Sr. and Fitz Hill are very close friends -- and he was just traded to the NBA's Utah Jazz.
This week, they will start working out together.
Hill's full potential as a basketball player probably hasn't been reached because, unlike most kids, he didn't play it year round.
There's another factor for Hill transferring to community college: He won't have to sit out when he decides where he'll get his degree, which is a priority.
Plus there is something else that may be pulling at Hill -- football.
Hill led Little Rock Christian to the Class 5A state championship, beating perennial power Pulaski Academy last season.
He was the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's All-Arkansas Preps Offensive Player of the Year after passing for 2,710 yards and 36 touchdowns.
As a quarterback, there was no room for him at Arkansas, which has suddenly become Quarterback U.
At 5-10, 182 pounds, quarterback may not be his natural position. He's fast, extraordinarily quick, has a 32-inch vertical and fits all the metrics that colleges and the NFL like in a cornerback.
As a coach's son, he knows the game inside and out.
A position change or what sport he should play is not being suggested, but it's good that he has options. At this time, going west was best for the young man.
Until classes start, he'll be working out with NBA players every day.
. . .
Fitz Hill is one of the driving forces behind 6th and Goal, a program to get sixth-graders on the playing fields and off the streets.
Studies have proven athletes in the sixth grade have only 19% discipline referrals while nonathletes have 49%.
. . .
In a column about Tom Mars last week, it was reported he graduated from Michigan and the University of Arkansas Law School.
Nope.
Mars' family is from Michigan and he spent part of his youth there, but he graduated from Arkansas State University and the UA Law School.
Sports on 08/06/2019