Illinois
Illinois Basketball Best of the Century: No. 10 Malcolm Hill
Since the turn of the century, Illinois has boasted plenty of individual talent and enjoyed its share of team success. The team hardware consists of five Big Ten regular season titles, four conference tournament championships, a No. 1 seed in three separate NCAA Tournaments, two trips to the Elite Eight and a national championship appearance.
Individually, Champaign has been home to five All-Americans since 2000, including a pair of two-time honorees in Dee Brown and Kofi Cockburn.
On Sunday, we begin an Illinois on SI series featuring the top 10 Illini players over the past 25 years. In our selection process, we considered individual production, career length (must have played at least two seasons since 2000), team accomplishments and intangibles.
Without further ado:
Career averages: 13.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.1 assists
Best season averages (2015-16): 18.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists
A microwave scorer who could knock it down from deep (1.2 triples made per game on his career) or attack the basket with his size and length, Hill could hurt defenses in a multitude of ways. He ranks third on Illinois’ all-time scoring list with 1,846 points.
A solid facilitator and an excellent rebounder for his height and position, Hill wasn’t just a one-trick pony. Defensively, he averaged 1.2 stocks per game (steals + blocks) and was a plus defender throughout his career.
Hill spent years playing international hoops in the Philippines, Germany, Russia and Israel before breaking through in the NBA in 2021. Most recently, he spent time with the New Orleans Pelicans in 2024,
Hill’s individual contributions might have earned him a higher spot on this list, but his lack of team success (no NCAA Tournament appearances) kept him from surpassing several other Illini alums.