Matt Hill interview

Picture Source:Rivals.com

This article was sent to us by Cindy Hill, Matt's mother. Read to hear the latest on Matt. The interview was done by TexasSports.com.

Q&A with Matt Hill

09/21/2006

Post Matt Hill is one of seven freshmen preparing for their first season of college basketball with the Longhorns. Hill was a four-year letterwinner and three-year starter at Lincoln Southeast High School (Lincoln, Neb.), where he set school career records in scoring (1,242 points), rebounds (755) and blocks (244).

He averaged 20.1 points, 12.7 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game while leading Southeast to a 20-5 mark and the Nebraska state semifinals as a senior. Hill was tabbed Mr. Basketball and the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Nebraska in his senior season.

Hill recently sat down with TexasSports.com to talk about his early impressions of Texas Basketball, the transition between high school and college and the start of individual workouts.

What are your general thoughts now that you are three weeks into fall semester classes and individual workouts? It has been a little difficult managing both school and workouts. It feels like most days you go from place to place to place with no breaks for a while. It has been an adjustment, but it's definitely teaching me the importance of managing my time.

How do you feel you are progressing on the court in the workouts? I feel pretty good about how I'm doing on the court. I'm trying to learn the system, do what the coaches tell me to and adjust to the college game.

What are the major differences you've seen to this point between high school and college basketball? Everyone is your size. The speed of the game and the individual players are a lot faster at the college level. Players are much more skilled and there is definitely more action above the rim.

What have been some of the differences between your hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska and Austin? Austin is a little more liberal. It is different than Lincoln, but I like it and it's been a good change for me. I'll always love Lincoln since it's my hometown, but I definitely have grown to like Austin a lot.

How important was it for you to come in early this summer with the rest of the freshman class? It was really important. Getting to know where all the buildings are on campus and getting adjusted to taking college classes was very helpful. It also was important to get to know the other players. Coming in cold in the fall would have been really tough. The chemistry that we built over the summer was pretty big.

Did you see any benefits from your time with (strength and conditioning coach) Todd Wright over the summer? Coach Wright knows his stuff. It's almost like he knows my body better than I do, so he is able to point out areas for improvement. Being able to work with him is really going to be big for my development. He really helped increase my flexibility and range-of-motion during the summer.

How does it make you feel to hear all the players consider you the surprise of the summer pick-up games? It does make me feel good. I knew I was under-the-radar coming in, so I didn't expect the other guys to know that much about me. I felt like I played the way I always have during the summer.

With so many new faces playing together for the first time, how would you rate the chemistry of the team right now? I think our chemistry is great. All the players get along really well. Coming in this summer helped a lot. You can tell that on the court, we are starting to get know each other's games and play well together.

Is there a difference between Coach Barnes as a recruiter and the coach you see on the court? He does bring a different demeanor once he gets on the court. He wants you to get better every time you get on the court, and I like that. But I do think he is the same guy I got to know during the recruiting process. He is pretty personal with all the players.

What's your favorite part of playing in the post? I like being able to do the dirty work. I like the feeling of outworking other guys, being physical, getting rebounds and being scrappy.

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