Recruiting Report: Jake Hilmer (2019)
North Linn point guard Jake Hilmer is without question having a better season than any other freshman in the state. The 5-foot-10 point guard has had no trouble transitioning to the speed of the varsity game, and his time spent…
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Continue ReadingNorth Linn point guard Jake Hilmer is without question having a better season than any other freshman in the state.
The 5-foot-10 point guard has had no trouble transitioning to the speed of the varsity game, and his time spent playing against top competition with the Barnstormers last summer has certainly played a role in his early successes.
Though Hilmer is averaging 16 points, 8.9 assists, and 5 steals per game this season, he’s yet to see any recruitment come his way.
“I started playing with the Barnstormers last summer, and that should help me get recruited in the future for sure. Coach Greg (Stephens) who works with me will get me in a great position when it comes to all of that, but as of right now I’ve seen nothing at all,” said Hilmer, who says playing college basketball is his dream right now.
“I play baseball too, and my dream is to play college basketball. But I’m short, I’m not the ideal college size right now for that sport, so I’m keeping my baseball option open as a more realistic choice for my future. But the dream is to play college basketball, and I’ll keep working towards that.”
The talented 2019 went on to describe his strengths and playing style to PHI.
“Definitely my best strength would be my passing ability, I’ve always been able to see the floor pretty well. I’m more of a penetrator than a shooter for sure. And I’m good at breaking presses, good against man-to-man, and I’m good at finding holes in a zone,” said Hilmer.
“My outside shot for sure is the biggest thing I need to improve on, if I can develop that, that’d be big. And I’m going to be working on my off-the-ball defense, it’s sometimes a struggle for me.”
Hilmer leads the Lynx in scoring, assists, steals, and rebounds, and the freshman says he’s even surprised himself a little with all his early success.
“I’ve surprised myself a little, just looking at my numbers – assist-wise especially, it helps when my teammates are shooting as well as they are. Scoring-wise, I think I expected about where I’m at. We have a lot of guys on our team that can score and it makes it really hard for opponents to zero in one guy,” said Hilmer, who though just a freshman, says his role is to be a leader on this team.
“They’re just expecting me to be a leader, and to be smart. I’m a freshman, but also a coach’s kid, so there’s a little extra expectations that come with that I’d say. The biggest thing is just go out there and be a leader, and not play like a freshman – especially on a team that has high expectations.”