The 2011-12 boys' basketball team
Since taking over the program in 2001, our goal for the boys' basketball program continues to be to "improve every day and in every way." We hope to enroll student-athletes whose attitude, efforts, and talent can add continuity and depth to our program. We expect our players to contribute to and benefit from the overall Hill experience. We will work hard to help our college-level players matriculate to programs that suit them academically, athletically, and socially. The Hill School is a nurturing, yet demanding environment, and students who graduate from Hill and who participate in our basketball program will be well prepared for college and life.
In the past ten years, more than 25 Hill players have entered college basketball programs, and currently several players are playing professionally overseas. Some of our most recent graduates are or did play at Bryant, Cornell, Lafayette, Stonehill, Trinity University (Tex.), Tufts, and VMI among others. A deep 2011 class sends five guys off to college basketball. Alex Hoey, co-captain and school president, was admitted early decision to Washington and Lee University and will play there. Ryan Clinesmith and Avery Robinson head north to continue their basketball careers at Wheaton College (MA) and Wesleyan University, respectively. Trey Harry will play nearby at Ursinus College. Nate Basalyga accepted a full scholarship to play at University of Maryland-Baltimore Country. Class of 2012 ALL-MAPL unanimous first-teamers, Josh Heyliger and Hans Brase, look to have promising college careers ahead of them as well. Before then, they will lead Hill as co-captains in its 2011-2012 defense of its MAPL title.
The Hill is a member of the ultra-competitive Mid-Atlantic Prep League, competing against New Jersey schools Blair, Hun, Lawrenceville, and Peddie, as well as Mercersburg from Pennsylvania. An incredible run through this year’s league tournament (wins of 17, 19, and 20 points) yielded Hill its second league championship, the other being in 2008. Each year, Hill also participates in several events and tournaments, including the PA Independent State Tournament, where Hill was both the 2007 and 2008 runner-up, and a semifinalist in 2009. Hill’s own Mercer Invitational Tournament, held in December and in its 42nd year, traditionally boasts an outstanding eight-team field that attracts college coaches from all over the country. Hill made it to the final in 2005 and 2008, and won the tournament in 2006 and repeated in 2007, its only title prior being in 1977.
Contests against the top teams in the Friends and InterAc leagues, and against perennial prep powers Northfield Mount Hermon, St. Benedict’s, Kiski, and Solebury, to name a few, annually highlight an incredible non-league schedule. Each year Hill also takes on the University of Pennsylvania JV team at the famed Palestra. In the 2010-2011 campaign Hill also participated in the fourth annual MAPL-Friends League Challenge, the Primetime Shootout, and the Scholar Roundball Classic in Boston.
Please consider visiting campus to see for yourself all that Hill has to offer. If you have any questions, or would like to discuss Hill basketball in more detail, please contact Head Coach
Seth Eilberg.