College Commitment: Connor Hills (2022 Barlow)

In the middle of his senior year, Connor Hills Connor Hills 5'6" | PG Barlow | 2022 State OR made the extremely tough choice to step away from basketball. The cerebral 5-foot-8 point guard had not been well physically and the limitations to his game was also affecting him mentally. But through it all, the Barlow senior never gave up on playing at the college level. One program continued to keep in touch with him throughout everything and Hills decided he would reciprocate the love, follow family tradition and commit to Corban.

"I like the school a lot because my grandpa played and coached there and my dad played there as well," Hills said. "And I really like coach (Taylor) Kelly because he made sure that my family’s history with Corban wasn’t the reason they were recruiting me. I also really like what coach Kelly is building and his vision for the program. I’ve gotten to know him better on my visit to Corban and when he came down our place to have dinner with my family. He’s really invested and I like what he demands out of his players."

Hills’ grandfather of course is legendary coach Tim Hills and his father Brian, is the all-time leading scorer at the school. Hills understands the deep history of his family at the school but is all set on making his own mark and establishing his own legacy with the program.

"Well the court is named after my grandpa and my dads jersey is retired - he also holds 11 school records and I think still holds the NAIA record for career points," Hills said. "All of that is great and amazing but I have no intention of every touching those records or comparing myself to them. I do want to do something neither of them could do and thats win a national championship. And I think we can do that with what coach Kelly has cooking up."

When healthy, Hills is an incredibly smart floor leader who shoots the ball well from distance and really gets after it on the defensive end. He’s still getting back to 100 percent and notes that while he’ll be in school in the 2022-23 school year, he’ll actually be starting in January and will redshirt the season. That way he’ll continue to heal physically and when he gets going in the Fall of 2023, he’ll be all set to contribute however he can.

"I really just want to keep getting my body ready and continue to recover," Hills said. "I just want to do whatever coach needs of me so we can win."

Hills finished as the #29 ranked player in the PrepHoops Oregon Class of 2022 rankings. Our congratulations go out to him and his family on his commitment.