Recruiting Report: Jake Hilmer (2019)
It’s been astonishing the numbers North Linn point guard Jake Hilmer has been able to post the the first year-and-a-half of his high school career. Last season as a freshman he averaged 16.5 points, 8.7 assists and 4.4 steals per…
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Continue ReadingIt’s been astonishing the numbers North Linn point guard Jake Hilmer has been able to post the the first year-and-a-half of his high school career.
Last season as a freshman he averaged 16.5 points, 8.7 assists and 4.4 steals per game. That coupled with his 15U summer playing on one of the nation’s best grassroots squads, has garnered him some Division I interest.
“I have had a couple Division I schools who have reach out to me. Both were during this fall actually, and some more early this winter. Obviously playing with the Barnstormers helps a lot with getting my name out there,” said Hilmer.
“The school that came to watch me work out was PJ Hogan with UNI — and I’ve been up there on a couple occasions, once for a practice and once for a game. And then Jeff Horner (North Dakota) has asked for some game film and stuff like that.”
Hilmer is also a standout on the diamond. He batted .460 last summer as a freshman, and even more impressive; he sported a 0.53 ERA while going 13-0 on the mound.
He says basketball is his priority though.
“I want to play basketball in college, at whatever level I’m wanted. My goal is to play basketball, for sure,” said Hilmer.
“I love playing baseball though, and we have a good team here at North Linn, and it’s fun playing baseball. So, my plan is to play baseball all the way through high school.
Baseball in college, though, is certainly not out of the picture.
“And if colleges reach out to me for baseball, I’ll definitely consider it. But if I have basketball options, that’s probably the route I’m planning on taking,” said Hilmer.
Right now, his focus is on his sophomore season with North Linn.
“But I don’t think about recruitment much right now during the high school season, I’ll think about recruitment in the summer and more so in the fall. But right now we’re just trying to keep things rolling at North Linn.”
So far this season the Lynx are 11-0, thanks in large part to Hilmer’s 22.2 points (60.3 FG%), 10.9 assists and 4.2 steals per game.
“This fall I really hit the weight room hard, I was trying to gain some muscle for sure. And as far as on the court, my mid-range game was probably my number one concern. And as the season has been going on I’ve been trying to stay in the best shape possible because we run a lot with the high school team,” said Hilmer, who elaborated on why he’s able to be so successful.
“I get a lot of space when I‘m on the court because I have a lot of great shooters playing around me. So, it’s really hard for teams to key in on me. And when they have to guard them on the perimeter, it creates a ton of space for me to work and get good shots.”