Thomas Lionel Hill Jr. was born on August 31, 1971, in Los Angeles, California, but grew up in Lancaster, Texas — a working-class suburb south of Dallas. His father, Thomas Hill Sr., was no ordinary parent. The elder Hill had grown up in the Magnolia Housing Project in New Orleans, run track at Arkansas State University, and become the world’s top-ranked 110-meter hurdler in 1970. In 1972, he won the bronze medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the Munich Olympics, finishing behind Rod Milburn and Guy Drut. After his athletic career, Hill Sr. earned a Ph.D. in Counselor Education from the University of Florida and built a distinguished career in academic administration, eventually serving as Vice President for Student Affairs at Iowa State University and assistant athletic director at the University of Oklahoma. The emphasis on both competition and education was woven into the Hill family’s DNA.
At Lancaster High School, the younger Thomas Hill became one of the most decorated players in Texas basketball history. He was named an NHSACA/Converse All-American as a senior in 1989 and helped put Lancaster on the map as a basketball school. His combination of athleticism, defensive intensity, and scoring versatility made him one of the most sought-after recruits in the state. He was later inducted into the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.
Hill chose Duke over a slate of schools, arriving in the fall of 1989 as part of a freshman class that also included Grant Hill (no relation), Antonio Lang, and Marty Clark. He walked into a program that had just made back-to-back Final Fours in 1988 and 1989 and was hungry for the one thing it hadn’t yet achieved: a national championship. Thomas Hill would be part of the group that finally delivered it — twice.