Hill joins Jaguars

After leaving Clovis as its No. 3 all-time scorer and top 3-point shooter, Bryce Hill has few doubts about his offense.

However, he wonders about his defense, as it was a source of joke among himself, his Wildcat coaches and teammates through his career.

Two years from now, he hopes he’s good enough at both to play Division-I basketball, and that Jacksonville College helps get him there.

“They’ve got a bunch of really good guys coming in, so it’s going to be cool,” said Hill, who signed a letter-of-intent Thursday to play basketball for the Jacksonville, Texas-based Jaguars next season.

The 5-foot-10, 185-pound guard picked the Jaguars over Howard College and Eastern New Mexico University.

Though Hill will be nearly 600 miles from Clovis, he’s not short on local connections. He’ll be joined by Los Lunas guard Matt Billups, Jaguars coach Greg Young is a former assistant at Eastern New Mexico University and assistant Cinco Boone is a former player and assistant at Portales High.

“Coaching JV at Portales a couple of years ago, I’d seen Bryce,” said Boone. “I’d seen him play a lot of games.”

All coaches involved, including Clovis coach J.D. Isler and Young, said long-range shooters like Hill are going to be more important with the college 3-point line moving back a foot to 20’9” next season.

“Bryce brings an ability to really, really shoot the basketball,” said Young, who is trying to bounce back from a 13-17 campaign. “It’s hard to find young men anymore who can really shoot it.”

Hill finished his Clovis career with 1,315 points, more than half coming off a school-record 222 3-pointers.

“Coaches at any level always look for guys who can score,” Isler said, “especially from the 3-point line.”

The Jaguar staff conceded Hill is a streaky shooter at times, but that’s not always a bad quality.

“If he scores three or four 3s in a row,” Boone said, “that’s the difference with us getting back into a ball game or that’s the difference with us putting somebody away.”

Isler is optimistic after two years in the Region XIV Junior College Athletic Conference, Hill will get a chance to transfer to a larger school.

“He’s got good size, he’s strong for a guard,” Isler said. “He’s definitely got an opportunity to play Division-I or Division-II in two years.”

Wherever that may be, it doesn’t matter to Hill.

“Anywhere I can play, I’ll go.”