Hill Chooses Purdue, Rutledge to Monmouth
Greg Hill has been one of the hottest names in New England for a few months now. The long distance marksman has quickly developed the reputation as one of the best shooters not only in this region, but in the entire country. The 6’2 shooting guard played extremely well down the stretch this season for his Bridgton Academy team helping them to their third consecutive NEPSAC Class “A” Title.
Before arriving at Bridgton, Hill starred on the SYF Players AAU team. Now he becomes the fourth member of that team to commit to Matt Painter and Purdue University. Purdue had been recruiting Hill for the better part of the season but was unsure if they were going to have a scholarship to give until former Brewster Academy star Chris Lutz decided to transfer. Interestingly enough all four SYF players headed to Purdue are wing players including 6’3 E’Twaun Moore who is ranked as the 7th best shooting guard in the country by scout.com, 6’7 Scott Martin who is ranked as the 5th best small forward in the country, and 6’8 Robbie Hummel who is ranked as the 8th best small forward in the country. Nevertheless, with their unique blend of talents and Purdue’s style of play it is expected that they will have no problem finding minutes together.
While Hill’s ability to shoot the long ball has always been his claim to fame and what sets him apart from the other future Boilmakers, the development of the rest of his game at Bridgton was likely the deciding factor in his ability to get to the high major level. Hill’s newfound versatility was on full display towards the end of the season as he brought the ball up the floor on occasion, scored off the dribble in the mid-range area, and even finished around the rim with floaters.
Late in the season Hill was receiving interest from other programs in high major conferences including Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa State.
RJ Rutledge Commits to Monmouth
Another sharp-shooting two guard RJ Rutledge has also finalized his future plans. The Northfield Mount Hermon standout is on his way to Monmouth after a very impressive post-graduate season.
Prior to arriving at NMH this fall Rutledge starred for Lawrence-Woodmere Academy in Long Island and the New Heights AAU program. He came to Northfield an already impressive player with great size for the perimeter at 6’5, but one that really needed to become more assertive offensively and improve his body…two things he has definitely done during his time there.
Rutledge has improved so much that he emerged as one of his team’s primary offensive weapons this year and even leaped over 6’7 UMass bound Matt Glass in the starting line-up.
Equally impressive is that RJ has also developed the reputation as a big game player. In December, he was instrumental in NMH’s 55-54 victory over then #1 ranked nationally and current national champion Notre Dame Prep. That day he scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter including a key three-pointer to cut the Notre Dame lead to one with just over five minutes to play in the game.
Less then a month later he hit another big three, this time in almost buzzer beater fashion to knock off a very talented New Hampton team. Also in January, Rutledge was extremely impressive at the Spalding Hoop Hall Classic when playing in front of numerous college coaches as he showcased his long distance shot and marksmanship in the mid-range are when pulling up off the dribble.
After those performances he had a wide variety of low and mid major programs giving hot pursuit including the likes of Manhattan. Ultimately however, Rutledge decided to join a Monmouth program that has a history of making the NCAA tournament and also offers him a good opportunity to play right away.
Greg Hill
RJ Rutledge
Matt Glass