Fritz Hill has an one hour show each Thursday at 7 pm on Little Rock’s FM 103.7 with Marcus Elliott and on most nights Bill Ingram, director of Joe Johnson Hawks.
I caught only tailend of the show, so anyone who listened to the whole show, please add to this.
Towards the end of the show, he recapped the lesson Justice and he learned from their experience. If they had to do it all over, they would not commit the way they did and what they did after committing. They put their faith in Coach Anderson and the University of Arkansas, committed early and turned away all other recruiters.
Of course they expected Mike to be still there just like everyone else on the team. So, Mike being gone is a problem to every player, but an additional huge problem for Justice is that they did not take any other visits and as such did not build any relationship with other coaches. As a result, coaches don’t know Justice and it is now like starting from scratch.
He mentioned that most players who enter the Transfer Portal, end up visiting the schools that had recruited them before. Now Justice has to do all the work in a short period of time to sell himself again.
He said it is a lesson to future recruits to not rush the commitment but take their time to build the relationship that you just might need in the future.
I feel sad for the Hills. It is clear Basketball is Justice’s first love for a sport and his dreams have been shattered. Hopefully temporarily.
I have no idea how good a basketball player Hill is.
Was this a done deal from the moment Musselman was hired? Or was there an open mind and Hill was actually on an audition that he ultimately did not pass?
I am close to the family and hate to comment but I have to defend Justice. Social media and some message boards are roasting the kid. The assumption seems to be that Justice chose to enter the portal. Justice wanted to be a Razorback. Yes, he loved coach Anderson but he also loves Arkansas. It is possible to do both. Justice spoke highly of Coach Musselman (to me) after being around him for a while and participating in work outs. I believe this move was the coaches decision, not Justice’s.
Justice committed early. If he had held on until his senior year this board would have asked Dudley daily what the status was. He would have had a lot of P5 offers.
His graduating early was a decision made to give Justice the most options moving forward. If he had known a coaching change was going to be made I’m certain that would not have happened. He wanted to be able to begin practicing with the team and get used to college life. Nothing wrong with that. Getting a head start on academics was also a big part of the decision. If he could graduate early then the door was open to more options if those options were something Justice wanted or needed to pursue. He could have, for instance, become a grad transfer and played football with a couple of years of eligibility somewhere. We seem to love the football signees that graduate and enroll early but it is not something that is common in other sports.
For people who claim the kid just wasn’t good enough…I respectfully disagree but also understand that is my opinion.
For people who claim Justice did this because he wanted to play for Mike Anderson…I disagree.
College sports is a business. There is not a kid that commits or signs somewhere that doesn’t know that. From a business standpoint I cannot disagree with Coach Musselman’s decision if he thinks that is what he needs to do to win.
It seems to me, at least at the present time, that both sides have taken the high road. Neither is pointing a finger and saying what happened. Justice was a Razorback commit for almost 4 years. I hate this has happened to him and wish him nothing but the best.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I think you have added clarity to a difficult situation. It’s good to know that neither side is pointing a finger. I wish the best for Justice.
I agree and it shows the class both sides have. Normally there would be social media meltdown and accusations thrown back and forth or from the recruit and/or his family.
I think Justice will succeed where ever he goes because of this and also having a great supporting family who sees the big picture as well.
What was probably lost in my post is that Fritz was sending a message to recruits that they should not commit to a school before they take all their visits and have opportunity to build relationships with coaches. You might just need them in the future.
I’m a big Fritz Hill fan so thus a Justice Hill fan. This certainly stinks for Justice and the Hill family. If folks are roasting Justice, Fritz and the family they are certainly not well informed. Clearly this was not their choice.
Like all Hog fans i want to win. And I’ll support Muss.
Folks D1 sports is a business. This is a perfect example. I saw it first hand when my son in law played D1 baseball.
All the best the Justice and Dr.Hill. Good people for sure.
Sadly RD there is no common sense on social media. Nobody deserves the social media crap that I’m sure he suffered. It’s a toxic environment inhabited by pinko, lefty, SJW commies and backwood, toothless, hilljacks full of opinions with no substance.
That said, when the initial report came out, Juice tweeted “y’all bored.” Seems to me like he should have shown some restraint in that instance.
I realize its a business. Promises of one CEO dont hold when new one arrives with his legacy moves to change results. The athlete is a pawn in the game of coach self preservation. Not a 5 star rated hoopster but all the explosive athleticism in prior system to set defensive on ball that we never saw. Ratings are meaningless since they dont translate to skills that excel to school of choice needs.
The numbers work out. Tubby didnt honor Pastner’s Lawson deal and got run out of Memphis. I appreciate fact that a 9th or 10th graders commitment beared the fruit of Arkansas Hawks teammates Perry, Joe, Sills and Henderson that followed Hill’s lead. Of course deal caved in when biggest rated Perry changed to his dad’s school and Henderson and Sills ratings dropped out of top 100 most places. By the way, I think Corliss gave his verbal to Nolan privately in 9th or 10th grade but kept door open to get publicity of Kansas and Indiana calling to keep his ratings from tanking.
Like boxing, the pawn must protect at all times and never put eggs all in one head coach basket as school gives new coach everything to succeed so there are no excuses on inevitable future firing date that always come.
Full steam ahead. Good Luck Justice! Tyler Murray did it and so can you. Its your life so God, family, your education and love of basketball are your priorities. Dont satisfy us. Satisfy you.