Vocational duo picks Wisconsin-Milwaukee

When Hollis Hill and Aaron Williams first met in seventh grade at Arthur Dixon Elementary School, they didn’t click as they do now.
They used to argue all the time. Their arguments, of course, were about basketball. The debate was over who the better player was.

“He thought he was better than me,” said Hill, who just lives a block away from Williams. “I thought I was better than him.”

They attempted to settle it once and for all in a game of one-on-one, but ultimately it had the reverse effect. Today, they don’t even talk about that game’s outcome. What they do discuss is how they quickly decided they were both really good players and needed to join forces.

And now after teaming up in elementary school at Dixon, in club basketball for Old Gold and the past three years in high school at Vocational, the two have decided to go one step even further. Hill and Williams, both in the Class of 2010, have committed to the Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“At first, we didn’t know if we wanted to go to the same school,” said Williams, who along with Hill visited the Milwaukee campus last Thursday. “You hear rumors how college life can be, and we figured if we went together it would be easier.

“I think we’re going to bring a different element to the team. It’s a refuse-to-lose mentality. When you have an attitude like that, it’s hard to beat.”

The duo showed just that last season as Hill and Williams led Vocational to a 26-6 record, which included two wins over Simeon and a quarterfinal appearance in the Public League playoffs.

“You look around college basketball and the teams that are experiencing success these days have a Chicago element in the program,” Vocational coach Chris Pickett said. “With Wisconsin-Milwaukee coach [Rob] Jeter being from Chicago, he’s always wanted the connection to the city. The last couple years he hasn’t had that. They’ll bring him physical and mental toughness.”

Hill, a 6-foot combo guard, also brings a scoring ability. He has a deadly outside shot, but also can score inside and get to the foul line. He averaged a team-best 19.3 points last season. He also shot 42 percent from three-point range.

“The one thing he can do is knock down shots,” said City/Suburban Hoops Report’s Joe Henricksen. “He can score. Hollis will have to improve his overall floor game as far as setting up teammates, distributing and the little nuisances.”

As for Williams, he’s a 6-5 versatile forward. He’s played everywhere from the shooting guard to power forward for the Cavaliers. He started off his junior season slow, but picked it up and averaged 12 points and nine rebounds for the season.

“I do like Aaron’s upside,” Henricksen said. “He has a terrific body. He has very good perimeter skills for his size and yet he has still has a long ways to go in terms of knocking down his shot consistently. If he can get to the point where he can knock down his shot consistently and work on his mechanics, he has the other intangibles. He’s just a versatile player who does a lot of things.”

Both have already qualified and will be the first boys basketball players from Vocational to go straight from high school to a Division I program since 1992, according to Pickett.

“These two kids are the best two kids we’ve had in the program, and I’ve been coaching since ’97,” Pickett said. “They’re not too grown up. They’re not trying to be bigger than the program. They work hard. They listen. … For the future, it lets kids know if you go to a Chicago Public School and if you do things the right way, you can get scholarship offers.”

Henricksen was surprised both players committed so early in the summer, but thought it was huge for Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

“With the right week or two-week stretch in July during the evaluation period, they could play themselves out of that level,” Henricksen said. “If you can lock them up and secure them before July, it’s huge for a mid-major. Both these kids have big upsides.”