NC State Guard Marcus Hill: "This Is A Home For Me"
The practice drill is intense but is work that has to be done. Sweat pours off his face and arms onto the floor.
Marcus Hill Jr. gets the rep right, then simply retreats to repeat it. The repetition of the work is not monotony. It provides an inner joy that is seldom expressed outwardly during his immersion in his regiment, but make no mistake, Hill loves playing basketball.
“It’s all I ever really wanted to do,” Hill said.
The son of a basketball coach, Hill has been around the sport for essentially his entire life.
The Beginnings
“I took to it early,” Hill recalled. “Once I got to playing, it was kind of easy for my level.”
Hill’s father, Marcus Hill Sr., was excited to see his son embrace the sport he taught to many others, but he was never keen on making him play against his will.
As time wore on, it became clear that his son was not forcing the issue, both with his love of the game and abilities exceeding his years.
“With him loving it so much and watching him start to navigate through it on his own, I'm like, ‘he's going to be good,’” Hill, Sr. said. “If you get a kid who's motivated to do these things on their own, and you don't have to force them to go to the gym to put in the extra work, that kid is destined to be a good basketball player.”
The thrill of learning and seeing it manifest itself into more success on the court was exciting for the younger Hill.
“I could see I was getting better,” Hill, Jr. said. “My dad started putting me in the gym a lot. He would put me in the gym and we would work out for an hour, or an hour-30. Every day we just worked and I was getting better.”
High School and the Matriculation to College
Before reaching the high school level, Hill competed with other kids his age in the Rockford area. That was fun but something was missing.
To see his game grow more, the level of competition needed to be expanded.
“He would always tell the older kids, ‘They better not take it easy on me because he wants me to be better,’” Hill, Jr. said of his father. “I used to always say ‘Why are these kids going hard at me? It was them making me better. Later on, some of the kids respected me because they used to make it harder.”
Hill also used setbacks to his advantage. Before enrolling in college, the natural lefty twice broke his left hand during basketball season. Not one to pout or be kept away from the court, he then worked on improving the use of his right hand with the basketball.
“It made my right hand as strong as my left hand,” Hill said.
Once he entered high school, Hill continued to succeed, but there remained some skepticism among college coaches that he could play at the next level.
After a season at prep school, Hill held a few offers and was set to attend St. Peter’s but that fell through.
“I took the wrong math class in high school,” Hill said. “My high school didn't have Division One people going to the school, so they didn't know anything about that. They did not know how to prepare you.”
With options limited, Hill elected to attend junior college.
The First Step
Southern Union State Community College athletic director and men’s basketball head coach William Brown has a clear take on Hill.
“When you say Marcus Hill, Jr, the first word that comes to mind is dog,” Brown said. “Nothing's going to surprise me athletically. He's going to outwork people. His work ethic is something that I have not seen in years. You're going to see his name more often than not shortly.”
It is easy to understand why Brown has a glowing opinion. While at SUSCC, Hill took the habits he cultivated in Rockford with him to the campus of the community college in Wadley, Alabama and became one of the best junior college players in the nation.
As a freshman, Hill averaged 20.5 points and 6.8 rebounds per contest. In the following season, he took his game into another galaxy.
In 2022-23, Hill led all of NJCAA in scoring en route to Third Team NJCAA All-American honors. His 26 points per game was third-best in the nation. He added 7.5 rebounds along with 3.9 assists per contest to finish the campaign as the 32nd top prospect according to JUCORecruiting.com.
“One of his attributes moving forward is his work ethic, Brown said. “He's constantly working, constantly in the gym. He's a true gym rat.”
The offers that were not forthcoming after high school and prep school were now on the table after Hill dominated the junior college ranks.
Once again, his path had prepared him to take the next step.
“At that time, I was like, ‘Why isn’t anything going my way?’,” Hill recalled. “When I went to JuCo, I feel like God made me and wanted me to go there because it showed me I need to be humble.”
Bowling To The ACC
Hill decided to attend Bowling Green State after two seasons of junior college ball.
In the MAC, it was more of the same.
In his lone season with the Falcons, Hill averaged 20.5 points per game (27th best in the nation). He earned First Team All-MAC honors and won conference player of the week four times. The program reached 20 wins for the first time in five seasons and only the sixth time in the previous 25 campaigns.
“When I first got there, I had the skills of scoring and everything, but I did feel like I had to work on things a little bit,” Hill said. “I had to work on the pace of the game, making the right reads and everything. That's what I had to fix, but other than that, it was alright. I was able to play.”
And Hill was one step closer to his ultimate goal within the college basketball ranks.
“I loved [Bowling Green State], loved everything they did for me,” Hill said. “My dream was always to play at the high major level. I wanted to achieve my dream. I wanted to go to the high major level and see if I play on there. I wanted to do it.”
Despite being on a historic run to the Final Four after winning the ACC title, NC State honed in on Hill immediately.
“I got a lot of contact,” Hill said. “It was crazy. I had to have my dad help me with it and everything. NC State hit me, they were probably like the second school to hit me. It was crazy because I was seeing their run and everything. I was like, man, this is crazy. I can't believe this is happening. A team that's on a run in the Final Four, and they're hitting me up.”
NC State’s run to the Final Four certainly made an impression, but what sold Hill on running with the Pack was the intangibles that NCSU and the City of Raleigh brought to the table.
“I told my mom that I definitely could see myself living here,” Hill said. “It's nice. It's a nice area. Everybody's friendly, and the weather is nice.”
Hill averaged a team-best 11.5 points along with 3.9 rebounds in 31 games (25 starts) for NC State this past season. He was the Wolfpack's second leading scorer in conference games in 2024-25.
Those who lifted Hill in his life are the happiest with how it has turned out.
“I saw Marcus after the Georgia Tech game,” Brown said. “We just embraced each other. I'm so proud of Marcus and what he's been able to accomplish, being at NC State and fighting all the hurdles, obstacles in his way. The sky's the limit for the kid, and I'm just impressed that he keeps moving forward. He's a humble young man. Again, the sky's the limit for him.”
Looking Ahead
Hill aspires to play professionally and then may potentially get into coaching after his career is over.
He hopes to play ball as long as possible, but with NC State making a coaching change he now understands that his immediate future is unclear.
“I love NC State,” Hill said, “You look at the crowd, I was just saying, ‘God, thank you.’ You blessed me. This is stuff that I dreamed of as a kid and I'm living it. It was just amazing. You want to cry, I want to cry because it is crazy. I don’t know what is going to happen. Everything is out there.
“We took the losing hard. I just love that the fans still came out and still supported us. I want them to know that every time I went out there I was always going to try my hardest, no matter what. Every single time you put on that NC State jersey you are not just playing for yourself. You are playing for all of the Wolfpack.”
As things clear up around the program, the next situation will depend on the new coaching staff. Hill understands that he may have to move on. He has no regrets.
“I am proud to have come to NC State,” Hill said. “I would do it again regardless of what happened this season or what happens next year. Everything happens for a reason. This is a home for me, and I thank God that I got the chance to find it.”
What They Are Saying
“This experience is going to catapult him to the next chapter in his career, athletically, academically, and becoming a man. It (the losing season ) is going to hurt like anything else, but it's just going to make him a better man. He has a strong foundation beneath him, his mom, his father. I'm there with him along the way. This is going to be a springboard to the next field experience.” – William Brown, athletic director and men’s basketball coach at Southern Union State Community College
“[The Hill family] love North Carolina State, the fans, the city. I told my wife, at some point, this is the type of city that you know you want to be in. He loves it there. He loves the school, he loves the fans and his friends and everybody there also. We appreciate the opportunity that they've given him to play this game.” – Marcus Hill, Sr.
“I'm a quiet kid, but if you come up to me, I'm going to talk to you. I'm a little shy. I'm working hard and I'm trying to make the fans, make the coaches, make my teammates as happy as I can. I'm trying my hardest. That's me and my hard work.
“We were not playing for us. We were trying to play for the family. Our brotherhood, our teammates, the fans we're trying to make happy. Every time you put that NC State uniform on you are playing for fans, you're not playing for yourself.
“Whatever happens, I want to be known with NC State forever. They gave me my chance, and I will never forget it.” – Marcus Hill, Jr.