P.J. Hill

From NCAA College Football Information & Resource

P.J. Hill Jr.

Profile
College	University of Wisconsin-Madison
Position	RB
Jersey No.	39
Class	Junior
Career	2006 – present
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	227 lbs (103 kg)
Nationality	American
B-date	January 3, 1987
B-place	East Elmhurst, Queens
High School	Poly Prep Country Day School
Career Highlights
Awards
2007 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (Media) 2006 Big Ten Freshman of the Year
Championships
none
Bowl Games
2008 Outback Bowl 2007 Capital One Bowl

P.J. Hill Jr. (born January 3, 1987 in East Elmhurst, Queens) plays running back for the University of Wisconsin Badgers in the NCAA college football tournament. In just his freshman year, Hill's name has already graced the school's record books in several rushing categories, joining the likes of former Badgers Ron Dayne and Anthony Davis as the only running backs to rush for 1,000 yards in each of their first two seasons. He has also etched his name in Wisconsin's rushing and total TDs list, rushing attempts, and rushing yards per game average. He will be one of the front-runners for collegiate football's most prestigious awards as long as he can stay healthy throughout the season.

1 Personal Life
2 High School
3 College
- 3.1 2005
- 3.2 2006
- 3.3 2007
- 3.4 2008
4 Career Stats
5 Highlights
6 Achievements
- 6.1 2007
- 6.2 2006
7 References
8 External Links

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Personal Life

P.J. is the son of Parrish Hill Sr. and Pamela Moss. P.J., who had been often compared to an SUV without turn signals, had faced obstacles during his early years in playing football, one of which has been his size. When he was 8, he locked himself in the boiler room of his family's apartment building and dressed himself in plastic bags to sweat off extra pounds from his 145-pound frame in order to make the 120-pound limit for the local Pop Warner League. He failed to make the weight in the initial weigh in but after the coaches made him strip to his underwear, he finally made it. His father has also criticized him for his running style---running over defenders rather than around them. He is also often compared to another jumbo-sized back, 1999 Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne. P.J. took up a major in afro-american studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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High School

During high school, he commuted two hours each day to attend an acclaimed program at Brooklyn's Poly Prep Country Day School to get a better education and more exposure to college recruiters. He was a three year starter for head football coach Craig Jacoby, rushing for 1,013 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore and 1,520 yards and 20 touchdowns as a junior. During his senior season in 2004, he had 166 carries for 1,421 yards and 17 TDs enroute to being named as the team's most valuable player and a finalist for the New York City player of the year award. Hill, an MSG Network Heisman High School All-Star and two-time first-team all-city selection by Newsday, concluded his career with 4,012 rushing yards and 48 scoring runs. Aside from his three letters in football, he was also a three-year letterwinner in track and field. Hill was named as one of the top 16 players in New York by Rivals.com and SuperPrep.

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College

The 2-star rated running back in high school was not the most highly recruited player out of New York because of his size and perceived lack of speed. Among the schools that offered him scholarships include Buffalo, Indiana, Wisconsin and Vanderbilt. In the end, he decided to go to Wisconsin partly because of Ron Dayne, the all-time leading runner in NCAA Division I-A history.

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2005

Hill was ready to suit up for the Badgers during his true freshman year until he suffered a broken leg during preseason camp. He decided to sitout the season altogether and redshirt.

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2006

Hill gained weight during his redshirt year and grew to 242 pounds by the start of the 2006 season. But the excess baggage didn't slow him down as he still managed to rack up 130 yards (second-most ever by a Badger freshman in a college debut behind Davis' 147 yards in his Virginia Tech debut in 2001) on 22 carries with 1 scoring run during his collegiate debut @ Bowling Green. The following week, he collected three touchdowns and 101 rushing yards on 22 carries with 2 receptions for 10 yards in a 34-10 win over Western Illinois. In week three, he carried the pigskin 26 times for 184 yards and 1 score as UW picked up win number three over San Diego State, with Hill joining an elite club of Badger freshmen who have registered three straight 100-yard games to jumpstart their career and the first to do so since Anthony Davis did the trick in 2001. His streak was snapped at 6th ranked Michigan when he managed only 54 rushing yards on 20 carries although he did manage to establish career highs in receptions (5) and receiving yards (64) with his first career TD reception in the 13-27 loss. He rebounded with another 100-yard game (129) with a season-high tying 3 scores with a career-long 37-yard reception in a 52-17 blowout @ Indiana. He followed it up with what was probably his best showing as a rookie, registering career highs in carries (35) and rushing yards (249) with a 60-yard scoring run (longest scoring run for a Badger since Davis’ 71-yarder vs. Minnesota in 2002) in a 41-9 win. His efforts against the Wildcats, which stood as the 10th-highest rushing performance for a Badger, the fourth-highest by a UW freshman behind Dayne's 339-, 297- and 289-yard games, and the fifth-most in the nation that season, garnered him a Big Ten and UW Co-Offensive Player of the Week accolades as well as a runner-up place for the Cingular All-America Player of the Week honors.

He followed it up with a couple of 100-yard and 2-TD performances in wins over Minnesota and Purdue, racking up 164 yards on 25 carries against the Golden Gophers and 161 yards on 29 carries against the Boilermakers. On the 28th of October against Illinois, Hill managed to rush for only 50 yards on 12 carries after sustaining a neck injury from two vicious tackles in a 30-24 win over the Illini. He did manage to return immediately the following week, rushing for 148 yards on 31 carries but his effectivity was lessened the rest of the year. He had 77 yards on 28 carries @ Iowa, 86 yards on 19 carries in the regular season finale against Buffalo, and a season low 36 yards on 19 carries in the Capital One Bowl win over Arkansas. Hill ended the year with 1,569 rushing yards (7th on all-time NCAA Division I freshman rushing list) to record the 6th best rushing season in school history. He also became the fifth freshman in NCAA Division I history to surpass the 1,000 rushing yard mark in just seven games (joining Florida’s Emmitt Smith, San Diego State’s Marshall Faulk, Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson and North Texas’ Jamario Thomas) and joined Ron Dayne and Anthony Davis as the only three UW freshman in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He was also able to register an average of 120.7 rushing ypg (#1 in the Big Ten and #8 in the nation, #1 among freshmen), 135.9 all-purpose ypg (#1 in the Big Ten, #19 in the nation), 7.4 ppg (#1 in the Big Ten, #25 in the nation), with 16 total TDs (12th in nation) in 13 starts. He also reached the 100-yard rushing mark in 8 of 13 games and scored a touchdown in 10 of 13 outings. Among his postseason accolades include a National Freshman of the Year award from Rivals.com and CBS Sportsline.com and a consensus Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors.

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2007

Hill underwent surgery on his right shoulder Feb. 1 which forced him to sit it out the team's spring practices. He instead spent most of his time running which reduced his weight from 242 to 223 during the offseason. He was also named into the Maxwell and Doak Walker Awards preseason watch lists, the Street & Smith's preseason third-team All-America, and was also listed as the country’s eighth-best RB by Lindy’s and The Sporting News.

He made his season debut against Washington State, scoring 2 TDs with 84 rush yards on 21 carries in a win over the Cougars. The following week, he was named as the team's UW offensive player of the week after rushing for 147 yards on 30 carries. In a win against The Citadel, Hill rushed for 168 yards and 4 TDs on 25 carries in addition to 2 receptions for 20 yards and another scoring reception (2nd of his career) in the 45-31 win. His performance against the Bulldogs, which earned him an offensive player of the week honors from his team and a runner-up finish in the AT&T All-America Player of the Week accolades, put his name across a couple of school records which include single game records in total TDs and points scored. He is also only the sixth different Badger to rush for four TDs in a game, his feat being one of the 13 four touchdown games in school annals. After a breakout game against the Citadel, Hill was hardpressed to go up against a tough Iowa rush defense which gave up just 63 rushing ypg. Nevertheless, he carried the football 29 times for 113 yards, 73 of which coming in the second half, with 1 TD run as he helped the Badgers overcome a 4th quarter lead to claim the team's fourth straight win of the season. Hill carried the team to a 5th straight win over 23rd ranked Michigan State, rushing 34 times for 155 yards and 2 scores to earn a share of the Big Ten and UW's Player of the Week honors after defying the Spartan defense which previously allowed only 95.8 rushing yards per game. Wisconsin suffered two consecutive defeats on the road at the hands of Illinois and Penn State, with Hill limited to a combined 40 carries, 158 rushing yards and 2 TDs.

The Badgers rebounded with two consecutive wins against Northern Illinois and Indiana, rushing 21 times for 184 yards and 2 TDs against the Huskies, and recording 12 carries for 57 yards and 1 TD against the Hoosiers. Unfortunately, Hill was sidelined after UW’s second offensive series against Indiana with what was believed to be a lower leg injury. The MRI results however revealed that the injury was a bruise on the top of his left foot, forcing him to sit out the game against top-ranked Ohio State. He managed to play against 13th ranked Michigan and played a role in the second half with 5 carries for 14 yards as the Badgers upset the Wolverines 37-21. He did not play in the regular season finale @ Minnesota due to his injury but returned on the roster in the Outback Bowl against Tennessee, rushing 16 times for 132 yards in a loss to the Volunteers. Despite missing significant amount of time due to his injuries, he still managed to register 1,212 rushing yards (13th best in school annals and third most by a sophomore) with a 110.18-yard rushing average (5th in the league), and an 8.18 points-per-game average (7th in the conference) in 11 appearances and 9 starts. Aside from earning his second letter, he also received an All-Big Ten honorable mention honors from the league media.

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