Son of Fresno State coach interested in UH
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer
FRESNO, Calif. — The University of Hawai'i is evaluating video of Matt Hill, the son of Fresno State football coach Pat Hill, as a potential recruit.
Pat Hill knows. He sent it there.
Hill
"I sent them film of three or four games," Hill said. "I'm sure June (Jones) will look at it and decide if he is interested in (Matt).
Pat Hill said UH, "is a school (Matt) has always liked."
Matt Hill is a 6-foot-3, 190-pound safety-wide receiver-punt returner and three-year starter for Central California power Clovis West High who has visited UH spring practice the past two years.
"He's had a good year so far," Pat said. "Hawai'i would be a great place for him."
Jim Hardigan, Clovis West head coach, said, "He's had a good year for us; been very active and made a lot of tackles and broken up a lot of passes. He's really starting to mature and blossom."
Hardigan said the extent of Hill's college options, "probably depends upon how he finishes the year. He's got potential as far as height, size and speed. With the playoffs coming up, we're hoping to play for another five weeks and how he does against those teams will probably determine a lot."
Fans must choose between football games
Tomorrow is "rivalry Friday" in central California high school football, the final week of the regular season traditionally given to cross-town rivalry games, some more than 50 years in duration.
As such, officials are concerned about the impact of tomorrow night's Fresno State-UH game, which is being shown on ESPN.
In Hawai'i, where the O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red and White title games will go head-to-head with the UH-Fresno State game, Keith Amemiya of the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association, said, "with only a two-hour time difference (from the West Coast) it is bound to impact the games here, too."
In California, "Some of our schools, depending upon the area will get hurt," said Jim Crichlow, director of the California Interscholastic Federation Central Section. "Buchanan, Clovis West ... they seem to get hurt quite a bit when Fresno State plays on Friday night."
"This is rivalry weekend and that will be an issue that some of the schools have taken, 'gosh darn it, here they are again on our Rivalry Night.'"
With fans forced to make a choice, both FSU and the high schools say they will be hurt. "My wife will be at our son's game (Clovis West), not ours," Pat Hill said.
Some schools in the greater Fresno area have lost as much as $5,000 in gate receipts on Fridays when Fresno State plays on national cable versus non-FSU nights, Crichlow said a survey has found. "That's huge," Crichlow said.
Crichlow said, "We understand their (FSU's) side of it and they kind of understand our side of it. We know that's where they get their (TV) money and they are trying to run their program and do the best they can and we understand and they understand they are cutting into our money. There has been discussion, but the dollar sign runs everything."
Hill said, "I'd rather play all our games on Saturday afternoons, but unless you are one of the schools that controls the market, you don't have a choice. You play when you get the chance or they give it to somebody else who will."
Locker room woes to end for visiting UH
This will be the last year UH and visiting football teams have to dress in the baseball stadium's cramped visitors first base dugout clubhouse — FSU promises.
Construction is underway on a new $5.5 million locker/football team facility that FSU will move into upon completion in January.
Visiting teams, who have been quartered in the narrow, tightly compacted baseball facility will then move into the Bulldogs' current locker room in the Duncan Building.
The 327-step gauntlet of FSU fans that visiting teams must walk from the dugout to the edge of the playing field has long been dubbed the "Red Mile" by visitors. In recent years, security has been strengthened to prevent incidents.
Note: The Fresno weather forecast for tomorrow is for morning fog, otherwise partly sunny and temperatures from 42 to 68 degrees.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.
