"At DeMatha, you're definitely groomed to go to big-time basketball schools," Hill says. "And I was looking that way until my senior year, when I realized that I could get everything I needed at Harvard--a Division-I basketball program and obviously the best education in the country."

But the 5'11 guard also had reservations about committing to a bigger program.

"The thing with me was, if I had gone to an ACC school, you always run the risk of having a player who's 6'5, is just as quick as me, and shoots just as well as me coming in, and then I'm buried on the bench," Hill says. "It's been an awesome opportunity to come in, be handed the ball and for a big part of the time, be in charge of a team's destiny."

That was a sizeable burden for the man Princeton's Jadwin Gym crowd delights in heckling with chants of "Tiny Tim." But Hill responded beautifully, winning Ivy Rookie of the Year honors after averaging 10.1 points and 5.2 assists per game during his freshman campaign.

That same year, the Crimson upped its record to 15-11 and finished 7-7 in the Ivy.

But during his sophomore year, Hill started on a 17-9 team that boasted superstars like Snowden, Chris Grancio '97 and Mike Scott '98 and that managed to knock off Penn at Lavietes. It would be the Crimson's only win against the Quakers in Hill's four years and symbolized a leap into the Ivy's top tier.

Also emerging in the 1997-98 season was a rivalry that would grow to be among the Ivy's best--the battle between Hill and the felicitously-named Quaker point guard, Michael Jordan. Named Rookie of the Year one year after Hill, Jordan posed perhaps the biggest personal match-up challenge of the Ancient Eight.

"The Jordan thing--two years ago, when I was a sophomore and he was a freshman, the Penn newspaper called me up, and they were trying to get this whole Jordan-Hill thing started up," Hill says. "But I didn't take the bait. I didn't give them too much to write about."

Historically, Hill has let the on-court squabbles provide the fodder for copy. Last year at the Palestra in Philadelphia, Hill held Jordan without a field goal for the first time in his collegiate career. And last Friday at Lavietes, Jordan, marked man-to-man by Hill most of the evening, committed nine turnovers.

"Hill's an outstanding basketball player," said Penn Coach Fran Dunphy after Friday night's 81-76 Quaker win. "It was also outstanding to see him foul out [for the first time since his freshman year]. But it's been a real privilege to watch him play these four years."

Hill has matured in ways that exceed simply not fouling out anymore. He has gone from a flashy rookie to an even flashier veteran, always the first to draw raves from coaches around the nation.

And Hill consistently occupies top priority on scouting reports, as bewildered staffs no doubt look at film of his slashing drives through the lane or his unconscious perimeter feeds and wonder how to contain him.

"It's a sign of respect," Hill says. "I'd rather have it that way than not be on the scouting report. It's a challenge week in and week out, but it only makes you play harder. When you're the hunted, it keeps you on your toes."

A Second Team All-Ivy selection for the last two seasons and a First Team favorite in this one, Hill more often seems like the hunter. But now that professional clubs in the U.S. and Europe have begun to send out feelers, Hill has to feel like the focus again.

"I'm getting some bites to play professionally, so I think I'm going to explore those options," Hill says.