Wichita State basketball fends off Big 12 foe in recruiting win for transfer Justin Hill
Despite a late charge from a power-conference program, Wichita State made enough of an impression on Georgia point guard Justin Hill to win a key recruiting battle.
Hill, a fifth-senior year who is battle-tested in the SEC, announced Monday morning that he picked the Shockers over Utah, which is joining the Big 12 this summer, to finish his college career.
WSU was confident in its recruiting pitch when Hill, a Houston native, left his official visit two weekends ago. But the Shockers had to endure a waiting game, as Hill mulled over his options and even took an official visit to Utah this past weekend.
Historically, it has been rare for WSU to win a head-to-head recruiting battle with a power-conference school when the prospect leaves Wichita without immediately committing.
But in the end, Hill was swayed by the efforts of WSU head coach Paul Mills and his coaching staff to come help deliver immediate firepower to the backcourt. WSU also signed Lipscomb sharpshooter AJ McGinnis, who had his official visit at the same time as Hill, earlier this month.
WSU and Utah are believed to be the only two schools Hill took official visits to, although he reported interest from LSU, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Washington State, California, Boston College, Louisville and VCU after entering the NCAA transfer portal.
Hill brings a much-needed veteran ballhandler to a team that struggled to take care of the ball last season, ranking No. 228 nationally in turnover rate. The 6-foot point guard has played in 127 games, scored more than 1,300 career points and has two years of SEC experience.
He averaged 9.5 points and 3.2 assists this past season for Georgia, but more importantly, he was reliable with the ball in his hands, evident by a 2.15 assist-to-turnover ratio and 27% assist rate in conference play, which ranked third-best in the SEC. While WSU’s three main ball-handlers posted a turnover rate north of 20% this past season, Hill maintained a superb 14.9% turnover rate.
When he was at his best for the Bulldogs, Hill was orchestrating the team’s offense in a distributing role he will likely be asked to replicate for the Shockers.
While Hill served as more of a table-setter at the SEC level, his career began for two years at Longwood as a main initiator at the mid-major level. In his sophomore season, Hill averaged 14.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.5 steals and led Longwood to a pair of Big South championships and its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.
Adding firepower to the backcourt has been Mills’ top priority this offseason and he has accomplished that with the ball-handling of Hill and the sharpshooting of McGinnis. Winning the recruiting battle for Hill became even more important when WSU’s other top portal target, combo guard Issac McBride, opted to remain at Oral Roberts for his final season.
WSU is slated to return seven scholarship players from last year’s roster, although players have until Tuesday to enter the transfer portal. Key players currently on the roster include center Quincy Ballard, wing Harlond Beverly, guard Xavier Bell, guard Bijan Cortes and forward Ronnie Degray III.
The Shockers’ 2024 recruiting class includes Hill, McGinnis and two freshmen guards signed in the fall, Zion Pipkin and T.J. Williams.
That leaves WSU with two more scholarships to fill out its roster for the 2024-25 season. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, WSU is targeting another big man and potentially another guard to round out its roster.
