A nice article on Hill.
HORN: Go see Isaiah Hill play basketball before it's too late
Liberty's Isaiah Hill gets past Ridgeview's Levell Zeigler during a game last season.
Foothill's Edward Turner goes up to block a shot, but Liberty High's Isaiah Hill goes under the basket to score during last year's Lloyd Williams/Kern Schools Shootout.
Have you seen Isaiah Hill’s jump shot?
Have you seen the guard drive to the basket with ease?
Have you seen the Liberty senior dribble effortlessly through a double team?
If not, please do yourself a favor and make it a point to before he heads off to the University of Tulsa to begin the next chapter in his dazzling basketball career.
I first was introduced to Hill during his freshman year at Liberty.
His older brother, Elijah, was a senior at Centennial in 2015-16 while Isaiah was on the bench with the Patriots.
Isaiah’s status that year had nothing to do with his talent level, rather the rule in place that the Kern High School District places on transfers. Hill’s parents, Damon and Jill, wanted their youngest son to compete athletically and go to school at Liberty but did not want to leave their house in the Frontier boundaries.
For that to happen, it meant Isaiah would have to sit out football and basketball his freshman season because he was deemed a transfer coming into high school.
There was a lot of buzz surrounding Isaiah being the next big thing in town, and I was impressed with him. He was cordial but had a swagger to his game even at 14.
It's only gotten better since.
Don’t just take it from me. Listen to the guy that's been around the Hills for the better part of the last decade.
A.J. Shearon was the coach at Liberty during Isaiah’s freshman year, then was Elijah’s coach over the previous two years at Fresno Pacific before coming back home to become the boys basketball coach at North this season.
“(Isaiah) has the most advanced skill set of any player that we have produced since 2005,” Shearon said. “We have produced guys that were bigger, stronger or more athletic. But in terms of a guy with the plug-and-play skill set, Isaiah is the most ready-for-the-next-level that we’ve had in the last 10-to-15 years.”
Yes, Tyrone Wallace, Braxton Huggins, Jordan Roberts, Justin McCall and Stephon Carter all come up in conversation.
Shoot, there was even Cody Kessler, but he chose the football route (seems to have worked out well) and did not play basketball his senior year at Centennial.
But to those like Shearon, Hill's skillset and readiness — despite the guard's diminutive 5-foot-11 stature — will allow him to be a standout on the college level as well.
“When you start talking about next-level players, you have to get away from metrics and look at the nuance. It’s his knowledge and feel," Shearon said. "He sees the game better than 95 percent of players you see at this level. He separates himself from everyone else. Not just locally, but nationally as well.”
Look at what Hill has done this season. In the Patriots’ home opener against Clovis-Buchanan, he scored 35 points with ease. Two weeks prior, Hill told me he was going to put up 40 on the Bears. Had it not been for a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter, he would have.
It was incredible to watch. His 3-point shot glided in like a rainbow from the heavens. His ability to create shots in the lane while never seeming to lose his cool was a treat to watch in person.
Through seven games this season, Hill has scored at least 40 points twice: In an overtime loss to Foothill on the opening night of the Lloyd Williams/KSFCU Shootout; then against Fresno-San Joaquin Memorial and national recruit Jalen Green, when Hill dropped 45.
Hill’s game is best suited as a shooting guard at the next level. And he has all the tools in his bag.
There is his one-dribble shot that leaves defenders scrambling to find their footing long after Hill has hoisted it up. His half-court dribble and long-range accuracy is the best I’ve seen in Bakersfield.
To those that have had their pulse on the basketball scene in town much longer than I have, like former Liberty and Independence head coach Stan Davis, Hill’s ability is special.
“He really doesn’t have a hole in his game,” Davis said. “He may not have the size but he’s really good. Isaiah is one of those guys that if you have a defender at the 3-point line, he can step back 10 feet and still hit it. When he’s going, he’s unstoppable. He is hard to gameplan against because he is also unselfish.”
Hill also got exposure in the offseason, as starting point guard for Compton Magic, one of the premier AAU programs in the country.
“They’re the undisputed No. 1 team in the nation in AAU basketball,” Shearon said. “When you are around those types of players it helps. Those reps he gets there helps when he comes back to the Valley, when he goes against guys like Jalen Green.”
Those moments are coming and going in the blink of an eye.
Hill's worth the price of admission. Go see that shot, that swagger before it’s gone.
Trevor Horn can be reached at (661) 395-7374. Follow him on Twitter: @trevhorn.
