Naz Hillmon

Nazahrah Ansaria Hillmon (born April 5, 2000) is an American college basketball player for the Michigan Wolverines, where she is Michigan's all-time leading scorer in a single game, man or woman, with 50 points. She also represented the United States at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup and won a gold medal.

Naz Hillmon
No. 00 – Michigan Wolverines
PositionPower forward
LeagueBig Ten Conference
Personal information
Born (2000-04-05) April 5, 2000
Cleveland, Ohio
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Career information
High schoolGilmour Academy
(Gates Mills, Ohio)
CollegeMichigan (2018–present)
Career highlights and awards
  • 2× First-team All-Big Ten (2018–2019)
  • Big Ten Freshman of the Year (2019)
  • Big Ten Sixth Player of the Year (2019)
Medals
Women's basketball
Representing the  United States
FIBA U19 Women's World Cup
2019 ThailandTeam
FIBA Americas U18 Championship
2018 MexicoTeam

High school career

Hillmon played four varsity seasons at Gilmour Academy in Gates Mills, Ohio where she started in all 116 career games and amassed 2,057 points and 1,607 rebounds to become the school's all-time leading scorer and rebounder. Hillmon averaged 21 points, 14 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 2.0 steals per game as a senior to help lead the Lancers to their first OHSAA Division III state championship, after winning back-to-back district and regional titles. Following an outstanding season, she was named the Division III Northeast Lakes All-District Player of the Year for a second straight season, the All-Ohio Co-Player of the Year and was named a finalist for Ms. Basketball.[1] She became the fourth girls basketball player in state history to score 2,000 points in a high school career.[2] Hillmon verbally committed to play basketball at Michigan on July 4, 2017, following her graduation from Gilmour Academy.[3]

College career

Freshman season

During the 2018–19 season, Hillmon appeared in all 34 games for the Wolverines off the bench, averaging a team-high 13.1 points, 7.0 rebounds and .628 field goal percentage per game. She also had a team-high eight double-doubles during the season. She finished sixth nationally in field goal percentage, the only freshman in the top 50. Following an outstanding season, she was named Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year by the media, Big Ten Conference Sixth Player of the Year by the coaches, the Big Ten All-First Team and the Big Ten Conference All-Freshman team.[4]

Sophomore season

During the 2019–20 season, Hillmon started all 32 games, scoring in double figures 28 times with 11 double-doubles. She ranked in the top five in Big Ten scoring in points per game (17.4), rebounds per game (8.7) and field-goal percentage (.567). She finished the season with 558 points (9th), 277 rebounds (7th) and shot 56.7 percent (7th) to rank in the top 10 of Michigan all-tome season records. Following the season she was named a unanimous All-Big Ten first team selection by both the coaches and media.[5]

Junior season

During the 2020–21 season, Hillmon was named Big Ten Preseason Co-Player of the Year, and named to watch lists for the Katrina McClain Award, the Wade Trophy and Naismith College Player of the Year.[6][7][8] On January 21, 2021, Hillmon recorded a career-high 50 points and 16 rebounds, setting the all-time single-game scoring record in Michigan program history, man or woman, and recording the first 50-point game in Michigan basketball history. She surpassed the previous women's record of 45 points set by Diane Dietz in 1982, and men's record of 48 points set by Rudy Tomjanovich in 1969. She also set a new program record for field goals made with 20. She became the second player in Michigan women's basketball history to score more than 40 points, and the third woman with a 50-point game in Big Ten basketball history.[9][10]

National team career

Hillmon represented the United States at the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Women's Americas Championship, where she averaged 10.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and shot 67 percent in 18.2 minutes per game, and won a gold medal. Hillmon represented the Untied States at the 2019 FIBA Under-19 Women's Basketball World Cup where she was team captain. She started all seven games of the 2019 tournament, averaging 7.4 points and a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game and won a gold medal.[11][12]

Personal life

Hillmon's mother NaSheema Hillmon played college basketball at Vanderbilt and professionally for the Nashville Noise of the American Basketball League (ABL). Hillmon is the niece of professional basketball player Jawad Williams.[13]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2018–19 Michigan 34023.2.628.000.6327.01.11.00.213.1
2019–20 Michigan 323233.3.567.000.6448.72.40.80.317.4
Career 663228.3.598.000.6387.91.80.90.315.3

References
  1. Cline, Nathaniel (August 7, 2019). "Gilmour's Naz Hillmon commits to Michigan basketball, says 'Go Blue' in announcement". cleveland.com. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  2. Barnes, Nate (December 27, 2017). "Gilmour girls basketball: Naz Hillmon becomes Lancers' all-time leading scorer". The News-Herald. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  3. Kampf, John (July 14, 2017). "High school girls basketball: Gilmour's Naz Hillmon striving for greatness before heading to Michigan". The News-Herald. Retrieved January 23, 2021.
  4. "Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced On BTN". BigTen.org. March 4, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  5. "2019-20 Big Ten Women's Basketball Honors Announced On BTN". BigTen.org. March 2, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  6. "WBCA announces 2020-21 preseason 'Wade Watch' list". WBCA.com. November 17, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  7. "Naismith women's college basketball Player of the Year Top 50 watchlist released for 2020-21 season". NCAA.com. November 17, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  8. "Awards and Honors: Katrina McClain Award Watch List". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. November 12, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  9. Ford, Ryan (January 21, 2021). "Naz Hillmon shatters Michigan basketball scoring record but U-M suffers first loss of year". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  10. "Hillmon Breaks Michigan Scoring Record in Tough Road Loss at OSU". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. January 21, 2021. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  11. "Nazahrah Hillmon-Baker". usab.com. July 30, 2019. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  12. Ringo, Kyle (July 20, 2018). "Nazahrah Hillmon-Baker Makes a Name for Herself in a Family of Athletes". usab.com. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  13. Kornacki, Steve (March 9, 2020). "Naz Hillmon: Third-Generation Hoops Star Rebounds Her Way to Success". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
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