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Purdue Basketball Recruiting: Johnny Hill Will Visit

Purdue is interested in fifth year transfer Johnny Hill.

By BoilerTMill
Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

I really value the work that GBI does, and always have, but they have erred in this one. Their new "Boiling Over" segment has a feature on a point guard fifth year transfer that the Boilers are seriously pursuing:

Notice, there is no name, but a picture, with no number to identify the player, which is discussed in their premium content. Well, it is clear by the uniform that he played for Texas-Arlington, and a quick search of this article from ESPN solves the mystery. It is 6'3" point guard Johnny Hill, who will graduate and be immediately eligible. Let's meet him!

Hill is entering his fifth year and likely his third division I program. There is nothing to fear from this. Brandon Wood was on his third school at Michigan State and Jon Octeus was technically on his third year. Hills started at Illinois State before going to Texas-Arlington, so he is already familiar with the Midwest. Let's look at his stats:

2011-12 (Illinois State): 7.4 mpg, 28 games, 2 ppg, 1 rpg, 0.5 apg, 0.2 spg, 48.6% FG, 30% 3FG, 64% FT

2012-13 (Illinois State): 25.3 mpg, 33 games, 7.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3.1 apg, 1.3 spg, 49.4% FG, 29.4% 3FG, 77.6% FT

2014-15 (UT-Arlington): 25.7 mpg, 22 games (missed 9 games), 9.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.2 spg, 46% FG, 25% 3FG, 68.8% FT (he jumped from 1.9 to 3 turnovers per game)

Hill has improved every season, but played only one minute of the final nine games this past year due to a wrist injury. He is originally from Glendale Heights, Illinois, adding further familiarity with the Midwest. This past season Texas-Arlington went 16-15 in the Sun Belt, but were 3-6 in the final nine games without him.

Before his injury he was pretty solid. There were some solid games like against Troy (19 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists) and UL-Monroe (19 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists). He is not a good three-point shooter, but he can at least hit one on occasion. He can score going to the basket, however, and is very effective at getting to the line. Unfortunately, he can be a tad reckless. In a January 15 game against Georgia State he had 9 points, 6 rebounds, three assists...and 11 turnovers. That is not good.

Here is his highlight tape from this past year:

Jon Octeus he is not, but he is a dynamic player that can at least be insurance for P.J. Thompson's development and the incoming Grant Weatherford. Since Purdue has two open scholarships going into next season why not give him a shot? At worst, he provides depth if Thompson takes the role and he needs a breather every now and then. He can drive the basketball, hit free throws, and he passes well. Since he will visit Purdue it sounds like we could have a new point guard soon.

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