Illinois Basketball: Top 5 underrated Illini recruits of the past decade

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CHAMPAIGN, IL – MARCH 01: Illinois Fighting Illini guard Malcolm Hill (21) dribbles by Michigan State Spartans guard Alvin Ellis III (3) during the Big Ten conference game on March 1, 2017, at State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

2. Malcolm Hill

I had to put Malcolm Hill in the top two on this list purely because of the numbers he was able to put up in Champaign. The kid could get buckets on a nightly basis.

Hill was a 6-foot-6, 210-pound small forward coming out of Belleville-East High School and residing in Belleville, Illinois. He was rated as a four-star recruit who was the No. 70 player in the class of 2013 and the No. 22 shooting guard in the nation. He was also the No. 3 player in the state of Illinois.

The No. 70 ranked player in a class isn’t bad. That means you are a good player who could help a major DI program. It usually doesn’t mean that you are going to put up big numbers. Sub-50 guys tend to be more of a solid role player who can show up on some nights. Hill wasn’t that type of player.

Hill spent four seasons with the Orange and Blue. He dropped 14.4 points per game as a sophomore, 18.1 PPG as a junior and 17.2 PPG as a senior. He could score from anywhere on the court, too. Hill had everything you would want in a player.

It always makes me sad to think Hill never got a chance to go to the NCAA tournament. He attended Illinois during a pretty dark time in program history. But that didn’t stop the talented wing from putting up big numbers.

Hill is listed as the No. 70 player in his class, but he put up numbers that say he was better than that. I would guess Hill was more of a player between No. 30 and No. 40 in the class of 2013.

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