Education
Malcolm X Shabazz High School.
Malcolm X Shabazz High School.
A 6 ft 1 in (185 m) guard from Newark, New Jersey and the Winston-Salem State University, Hill played in the National Basketball Association for one season with the Hawks, in 1961-1962, averaging 5.5 points in 58 games. Hill was only the fifth African-American from an historically Black college and university to be taken in the first round of an National Basketball Association draft. In 2008, Hill was profiled in a segment on the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network documentary Black Magic, which told the story of African Americans and basketball.
The segment asserted that early in that 1961-1962 season, Saint Louis Hawks coach Paul Seymour was told by team management to severely diminish Hill"s offensive role so that stars Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan, and Clyde Lovellette (who were all European-American) would receive more shot attempts.
Seymour refused and was fired, and Hill"s scoring averaged dropped from 10.8 points per game to 5.5 points per game. Hill never played in the National Basketball Association after that season.
Hill had denied that his race was a factor in his National Basketball Association struggles, saying, "lieutenant wasn"t racial. lieutenant was points." He went on to become a successful head coach at Essex County College in Newark, New Jersey.
Hill died on August 10, 2015.