Prospect Spotlight: Jesse Hillis (2017)
When we last talked with Michigan’s 26th-ranked 2017 Jesse Hillis, he had just recently picked up his first offer from NAIA Davenport University — that was in June. Shortly after, the Caledonia senior committed to the Panthers, it was the…
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Continue ReadingWhen we last talked with Michigan’s 26th-ranked 2017 Jesse Hillis, he had just recently picked up his first offer from NAIA Davenport University — that was in June.
Shortly after, the Caledonia senior committed to the Panthers, it was the only official scholarship offer he had at the time, and that was good enough for him.
“I think going there on visits and basically living right next to the school, I’ve been talking to them for a long time and they kind of felt like a second family,” said Hillis.
“And when I went there it really just felt like that was the right place to go, and It felt like they’d have my best interest in mind. So I decided that’s where I wanted to go.”
Hillis decided to commit early despite being one one of Michigan’s’ top-30 2017s. He was wooed by the prospect of making an immediate impact with the team.
“I figured maybe if I would have held out I could have gotten some low-major D1 offers, but I would have had to redshirt and probably wouldn’t have been happy,” said Hillis. “But at Davenport I think I can come in right away and make an impact.”
As he continues into his senior season with the Warriors, he says working on improving his body will be main priority.
“I think heading into next year for college I’m going to work on getting my body right,” he said. “And trying to really get the athleticism I need to play at the next level and at a high level.”
His role has been to be the main scorer with Caledonia in year’s past, that’s no different this season — but maybe with a little added leadership.
“I think it’s kind of the same role for me as last year; I’ll have to be the best player on the team. But I’ll have to be more of a leader, and I definitely need to work on that,” said Hillis.
“And I’ll need to get my guys around me going so that we can play at a high level as a team, and get some more wins this season.”