Solomon Hill: Looking back at his sophomore season

This is the second in a series of player-by-player look-backs at the Arizona Wildcats basketball season. Others: Jesse Perry.

SOLOMON HILL, F, 6-6, 226, So.

–Emerged late in the season as a much more aggressive player, and his 16-point, eight-rebound effort against Texas in the third round of the NCAA Tournament was his finest effort — at least that’s what coach Sean Miller said after the game.

–Hill reached double-figure scoring in five of the last nine games. His final season totals: 8.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.

–After making only 4 of 18 3-point attempts as a freshman, Hill hit 17 of 48 (35.4 percent) from behind the arc in 2010-11. Hill also made 78 of 100 free throws. Miller says he anticipates Hill continuing to improve his shooting and becoming a more prolific 3-point shooter. “I think Solomon will really benefit a great deal by becoming an even better shooter than he was this year,” Miller said.

–Hill’s season-high scoring was 20 points vs. Santa Clara.

–Season-high rebounding was 11 vs. Oregon State in the Pac-10 tournament on March 10. He had 10 rebounds vs. UConn in the West regional final.

–Hill, in the locker room after the loss to UConn, put the season in perspective. “This is a different feeling from last year. It just sucked. We didn’t play in anything. I had Arizona on my shirt, and not even playing in the NIT just sucked. I just felt like I didn’t put forth any effort to that season. (This year), we could have gone to the Final Four.”

–Has started 59 games in the past two seasons.

Additional reading: Patrick Finley, Arizona Daily Star: Hill gets teammates’ drift about his own

Coach Sean Miller says:

“Solomon has a body that is big and strong. Making sure he’s thin and slim — and his body fat is as low as it can get — that is going to bring out the best in him. … Nobody has had more experience in our conference than Solomon. You look at the number of minutes he’s played, the games he’s started, that experience is really going to help him.”

Sophomore forward Derrick Williams says:

“Solomon, he doesn’t do anything great, but he does everything good. He rebounds the ball, put-backs, shoots the ball really well. He’s a great passer as well. That’s just something you need on your team. You can compare his game to Lamar Odom, and he does everything well.”