Screen test passed

Through a maze of screens and spot-up jumpers that have produced 1,095 career points and a school-record 250 3-pointers to date, Idaho senior Connor Hill remains thankful.

Now in his third year as the starting shooting guard for the Vandals, Hill has gone from a long-range marksman off the bench as a freshman to the focal point of defenses as a senior — all with the same humility he showed during his decorated career at Post Falls High.

“I knew if I came here, I would have the opportunity to play,” Hill said the other day. “I’m just thankful to the coaches for giving me the opportunity to play. I’m just thankful for coach (Don) Verlin, for putting his trust in me.”

The Vandals will honor Hill’s career during “Connor Hill Day” on Saturday, when the Vandals play host to UC Davis at 2 p.m. at the Cowan Spectrum.

Spots are still available on a bus that will carry fans from the Coeur d’Alene area to Moscow and back for the game. Buses will depart the University of Idaho Center in Coeur d’Alene for Moscow at 11:45 a.m., and return after the game. Cost is $30, which includes a game ticket, transportation, a T-shirt, autographed photo, drawstring bag and concession coupon.

Hill became the Vandals’ all-time 3-point scorer last season, eclipsing the previous record of 168, set by Orlando Lightfoot (1991-94). He finished the season with 232 3s, and has been adding to his record this year.

“It is kind of mind-boggling,” Hill said of being the school’s all-time 3-point scorer. “I think about it and I think, ‘how is that possible?’ But then again, that is possible, because I have put in a lot of work, just over life, always playing basketball from a young age. I knew I could do it; I have the confidence I could do, I’m just thankful I got the shot and the opportunity to do it.”

For his Vandal career, the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Hill has made 250 of 607 3-pointers (41.2 percent). This year, he’s 18 of 47 from 3-point range, and is averaging 13.0 points per game, second on the club.

Hill’s 98 3-pointers last season, when Idaho came within one game of the NCAA tournament, were one shy of the school record set by former teammate Jeff Ledbetter in 2011. He’s made as many as 8 3s in a game, also one off the single-game school record.

Verlin, who recruited Hill to Idaho when Hill was a senior, saw right away what Hill could do, and didn’t try to change him.

“Play to your strengths, and stay away from your weaknesses,” Verlin said recently. “Let’s get him the ball and let him shoot it. ... He has a skill that he’s very good at, a skill that’s very important in the game of basketball.”

In high school, Hill scored most of his points on spot-up 3s and drives to the basket. In college, most of his shots — almost 71 percent of his shots are 3-pointers — come off screens.

Those are not easy shots, folks — running from one wing, underneath the basket, coming off a baseline screen to the other wing, catching the ball, squaring up and launching a 3 with a defender closely following in pursuit. Those are plays run for NBA guards.

“All I do is run off screens,” Hill said. “I’ve gotten good at reading screens, and that’s allowed me to get a lot more shots. This year, teams are running guys at me, sometimes deny me. I have to work a lot harder to get my shot off this year, but that’s fine, it opens some lanes for my teammates.

“Some of the shots I take are not easy, flying off screens full speed. But I’ve gotten good at it.”

Footwork, he says, is the key, the better to keep a shooter in motion on balance.

Verlin and Hill both agree Hill has developed more of an all-around game, but make no mistake — Hill is in there to stick 3s.

Not that that’s a bad thing.

“He’s a lot more consistent shooter than he was in the past,” Verlin said. “I think he’s increased his range a little. I think he’s improved a lot in the (first) three years.”

On Wednesday, Hill made 5 of 9 3-pointers and finished with 19 points as Idaho beat Washington State for the first time since 2003, and won at Pullman for the first time since 1989.

In high school, Hill chose to attend Idaho over WSU in part because Idaho had offered him a full scholarship, while the Cougars, coached at the time by Ken Bone, invited him to walk on.

While he said “it would have been great to play at Washington State too,” Hill said he didn’t want to go somewhere and sit for most of his career, and said he was “thankful” the Idaho coaches had faith in him.

A bigger motivation for beating the Cougs — Idaho and WSU players routinely gather throughout the summer, either in Pullman or in Moscow — and play rat ball with each other.

So the players know each other well.

“They’ve won their fair amount. It was nice for us to get the win and be able to brag a little bit,” he said. “For me being a senior, and losing three times to them, it was just a great feeling to beat them.”

Hill is on track to graduate at the end of the fall semester in 2015, with a degree in business management. His father, Kirk, is a businessman, owning apartments in Moscow, Pullman and Spokane.

Hill, who honed his shooting skills in a gymnasium his father built on the family property in Post Falls, said he would consider playing professionally overseas if the situation was right.

Verlin remembers redshirting Hill his first three games as a freshman before changing his mind.

“I brought him off redshirt and I think he made five 3s vs. Davis in the second half, and away we went,” he recalled.

Hill was 47 of 122 from 3-point range as a freshman, and averaged 5.6 points per game off the bench.

He was 87 of 196 behind the arc as a sophomore starter, and averaged 12.1 points per game. Last year, he was 98 of 242 on 3s, and averaged 14.2 points per game.

Looking back, Hill says he’s glad he didn’t redshirt — he thoroughly enjoyed that freshman season, and the players on that 19-14 team.

“Next year I’ll probably be wishing I’d redshirted him,” Verlin said, “but this year I’m glad he’s here and ready to go.”