Illinois Basketball: Former Illini joining New Orleans Pelicans training camp

A former Illinois basketball star is getting a shot with an NBA franchise.

The Illini haven’t had tremendous success in the NBA as of late. Deron Williams has been the gold standard over the past three decades, and after him, there have been few and far between. But it looks like a former Illini great is getting his shot at The Association.

According to Andrew Lopez of ESPN, the New Orleans Pelicans are bringing in Malcolm Hill to be a part of their training camp. This move comes after Hill played on the Pelicans summer league team.

The former Illinois basketball star has a lot to offer an NBA team.

Hill has been trying to stick with an NBA team for the past few years. He graduated from Illinois back in 2017 and then started his professional basketball journey.

After spending the summer of 2017 with the Oklahoma City Thunder summer league team, Hill would head overseas to compete with various international organizations. One of his most successful seasons came in 2020-21 with Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem where he would average 19.5 points per game while shooting 36.4-percent from three-point range.

Hill would then come back to the states where he would see action this summer with the Pelicans summer league squad. With the Pelicans, Hill averaged 4.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in just 11.2 minutes of action per game. With so many players needing to see action, those numbers aren’t too bad.

Now Hill is getting a shot at landing with the Pelicans in some form or fashion. He might not land on their active roster, but he could end up with their G-League affiliate the Birmingham Squadron. No matter what happens, at least he is getting a shot.