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Duke's Grant Hill Comes of Age

DURHAM, N.C. -- Lest we forget -- amid the skyscraping dunk, NCAA championship and Sports Illustrated cover -- that Duke's Grant Hill isn't really a demigod but rather an 18-year-old freshman, we present . . . his father, Calvin.

On this day, Calvin Hill points out that in recent weeks, besides playing a major role in the Blue Devils' first national championship, his son has also:

Locked his car keys inside the car at a local car wash.

Pretended to lock the door to his dormitory bedroom each day, despite having lost the key a month earlier.

Had his telephone disconnected because of nonpayment.

"Yeah, he's still 18 years old," said Calvin Hill, perhaps anxious to report these misdeeds because, on this day, Grant also has neglected to pick him up at the airport, leaving Dad to fend for himself. Given Calvin's mood, the transgression likely will cost Grant some pocket money and the use of his car for a yet-to-be-determined period.

Those hardships aren't likely to diminish the glow from a year in which Hill has gone from South Lakes High in Reston to an AAU championship in St. Louis, a Junior National championship in Uruguay, the freshman all-American team, and a win over Kansas for the NCAA title in Indianapolis. Hill may have set the tone for the last game by climbing high above the rim to throw down an alley-oop pass from Bobby Hurley in the opening minutes.

That year also illustrates why there are literally thousands of 17-year-olds who would be happy to be in the exact same situation a year from now -- even if it means having to go without wheels.

Meanwhile, the 18-year-old who has accomplished so much sits in a room in the school's basketball office, aware that all of these wonderful things have happened but uncertain of how or why.

"At the beginning of the year it was hard to believe I was even in college, playing with people like {former Duke stars and current NBA pros} Johnny Dawkins and Danny Ferry before school started. Now, it's hard to believe that I've had a year of doing things that I never thought I'd be able to do," said Hill, now in Colorado Springs trying out for the U.S. team that will play in the Pan American Games.

"I don't know if guys want to be just like me. I think they want to play against the best and for the best and to be the best. I don't know why this has happened to me; I think I've been fortunate enough to be around good people who've taught me a lot and I've been very lucky."

Lucky that, as a tall, gangly youngster in Virginia, his best friend, Mike Ellison, insisted on playing full-court in their one-on-one games. The rule cost him some early victories but improved his ball-handling skills -- the 6-foot-7 Hill was good enough to play point guard as well as the low post at South Lakes.

That versatility netted Hill a state championship, high school all-American status and gobs of attention, but nothing like he received at Duke. From his first day on campus, Hill was an object of attention from complete strangers, something the introspective youth wasn't ready for.

"In high school I knew everyone from growing up with them. I was just one of the fellas, it wasn't anything like 'Ooh you're Grant Hill,' " he said. "The first day there were people asking me for my autograph and they were expecting so much -- it was like if you didn't do what they thought you should be doing you were letting them down."

Yet, Hill added, in some ways, the attention was something that he needed.

"I know last year at this time I was very quiet and kept to myself," he said. "If I was out socializing with friends I was always the quiet one. This year forced me to open up. I had to learn to communicate with others, in interviews or school projects and presentations."

By the end of the year, Hill was able to break away from the company line in a news conference on the eve of the championship game and say he would be disappointed if Duke didn't win the title.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski quickly jumped in, saying that all of the Blue Devils were grateful just to be in Indianapolis, but Hill later insisted that his initial statement was correct -- a loss would be a great disappointment.

"I heard that and I thought to myself, 'Is this the same kid who cried when he was told he was going to play on the varsity basketball team as a freshman in high school?' " said Calvin Hill, a Baltimore Orioles vice president and former NFL running back.

Yet in other ways, the transformation is far from complete. Hill, a year younger than Kenny Anderson -- the former Georgia Tech star who recently entered his name for the upcoming NBA draft -- can't fathom the idea that he could be compared to Anderson.

"Kenny Anderson is Kenny Anderson," he said. "I don't see myself in the same position at all."

The same sense of awe characterized the beginning of Hill's freshman season. Although he started, and was the first Duke freshman since Dawkins to score in double figures in his first six collegiate games, Hill said he felt like he really wasn't there.

"I know I wasn't playing to my potential, it was more like, 'I can't believe I'm playing in Madison Square Garden, I can't believe I'm on the same court with {Arkansas star} Todd Day,' " he said. "I guess a lot of freshmen go through that but not as bad as me.

"I wish I could have it all back because I know I could have done more; I'm anxious for next year to start so that I can play like I know I can play right from the start."

He can start at the free throw line. Hill missed seven of 10 from the line in the Garden against Notre Dame in the consolation game of the preseason NIT. While free throws would be a point of consternation throughout the year -- Hill was two of eight in the win over Kansas -- he did average 11.2 points, shooting 52 percent from the field, and 5.1 rebounds per game. He also had 79 assists, 51 steals and 30 blocked shots.

Those numbers likely would have been even better were it not for a broken nose and hip pointer that cost Hill three games.

Something else that also can't be measured, is what his size and all-around skills meant to Duke in its 79-77 semifinal upset win over previously unbeaten UNLV, a team that defeated the Blue Devils by 30 points in the 1990 championship game.

The wins over the Runnin' Rebels and Jayhawks in Indianapolis marked the end of an extraordinary season, but when the final buzzer went off Hill said he felt extremely ordinary, perhaps the final effect of a year that provided more stimuli than he knew how to handle.

"Winning a national championship was something that I had dreamed about all the time but when the game was over it just seemed like the end of any other game," he said. "It seemed like there should be some different sort of reaction but there wasn't."