Following our countdown of the top 10 moments in each Ivy school’s men’s basketball history this summer, Ivy Hoops Online is delighted to continue celebrating the 60th anniversary of modern Ivy League basketball by honoring the top 60 players in Ivy hoops history (in no particular order). For the next entry in our Ivy 60 for 60 series, we focus on Armond Hill, one of the greatest players in Princeton basketball history…
Armond Hill was a high school all-american at New York’s Bishop Ford High School and the Lawrenceville School. His most significant accomplishment was to lead Princeton to the 1975 NIT Championship at Madison Square Garden. In an era when only conference champions could compete in a 32-team NCAA Tournament field, the NIT was replete with top 20 nationally ranked teams. As the star of the tournament, Armond led Princeton to a No. 8 national ranking in 1975, and as Ivy Player of the Year, a No. 15 ranking in 1976. After Princeton, he had a very solid eight-year NBA career, primarily with the Atlanta Hawks. While he was a pass-first point guard, he was also capable of scoring 25-30 points if the occasion warranted. He could best be described as a shorter version of Magic Johnson without the Lakers Showtime ostentation. Finally, he went on to have an outstanding coaching career, first as head coach at Columbia and later as Doc Rivers’ assistant coach with the Boston Celtics and, currently, with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Check out Kareem Maddox’s 2014 interview with Armond Hill for Piqued and what Maddox (Princeton ’11) thought of getting to interview Hill.