NCAA grants waiver to UO's Hill;Football Oregon;Freshman defensiveback will join Ducks for practice

Byline: Rob Moseley The Register-Guard

Defensive back Troy Hill has been cleared to join the Oregon football team by the NCAA after being approved for a waiver that became necessary when the Ducks discovered he attended high school for five years.

Under an NCAA rule enacted in 2007, incoming student-athletes are required to complete 16 core courses to gain admission and must do soin four years. Hill used five years, repeating his freshman year of high school after transferring from Chaney High in Youngstown, Ohio, to St. Bonaventure High in Ventura, Calif., in 2006-07.

Hill moved west to live with an uncle and escape from a rough neighborhood in Ohio. Those circumstances were considered by the NCAA as part of the waiver request by the UO athletic department, according to initial eligibility coordinator Leanne Brooks.

The NCAA also took into account the fact that Hill's transfer tookplace before the rule was enacted in 2007. St. Bonaventure forfeitedits 11 wins from last fall because Hill's athletic eligibility window should have been closed, but that doesn't appear to have been a consideration for the NCAA, Brooks said.

"It was more personal circumstances, as well as his having done this prior to the rule being instated," Brooks said.

Hill will arrive in Eugene on Saturday and likely join practices Monday, UO coach Chip Kelly said.

Hill, 5-feet-11 and 165 pounds, was an all-league defender for a St. Bonaventure team that went 11-2 in 2009, though it eventually forfeited those victories and a league title. He was a three-star recruitaccording to both Rivals.com and Scout.com.

His size and speed - a reported time of 4.5 seconds in the 40-yarddash - fit the profile of a cornerback for the Ducks, but Kelly saidcoaches will determine whether Hill plays corner or safety after watching him practice.

"Until we run him around, I don't know what he is," Kelly said. "He's a defensive back, but is he a safety, is he a corner? How fast ishe actually in person? He's a real smart kid, a real versatile kid -that's what we liked about him in recruiting. I think he could play both positions, but we don't know."

Kelly also wouldn't commit to a defined role for Hill this fall, given his late arrival.

"Haven't seen him, so I have no idea," Kelly said. "Cliff Harris came late (last fall), ended up playing for us. Other guys came late, they didn't."

Harris' arrival last fall was delayed while the NCAA Clearinghousereviewed his academic standing, a relatively standard proceeding. Hill's case was more complex, making Thursday's news a welcome development.

"I'm happy that it got straightened out," Kelly said. "But I've always taken the mind that, we don't have any control over it. So if they say he can come, he can come. If he can't come, we'll make alternative plans."

Hill began his high school career in 2005 in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. He moved to Oxnard, Calif., in January of 2007, under the guardianship of his uncle, Jim Gilmer, who was also raised in Youngstown.

"Troy had slipped through the cracks," Gilmer told the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper. "He was on a lost island. He wasn't going to survive in Youngstown. I don't think he would have lasted another six months."

Gilmer has a daughter enrolled at St. Bonaventure, and Hill applied there under a "hardship and emergency" designation, the Ventura paper reported. A transcript provided by Chaney's administration during the transfer process noted that Hill was a freshman but didn't specify that he was a second-year freshman because of poor grades in 2005-06.

The error was discovered by Oregon administration in early February, after the Ducks received a letter of intent from Hill and began finalizing a review of his academic records. St. Bonaventure administrators were crestfallen.

"He is a success story of this school," principal Marc Goff told the Ventura County Star. "An inner-city kid who comes out of a different environment, makes good grades and becomes the best that he can be."

As of Thursday, however, Hill's story appears to have a happy ending.

"I like him as a kid," Kelly said. "He's very conscientious, did everything he was supposed to do. Was great in the whole recruiting process. And then we just had to wait."

Hill's enrollment would make the Ducks 23-for-23 in bringing the 2010 recruiting class to campus, assuming Isaac Dixon enrolls in January as planned after recovering from a knee injury. That's a rare perfect score for a recruiting class, and something for Kelly to hang hishat on.

"I never thought about it like that," Kelly said. "But I guess so,sure."

UO RECRUITING WITH MATT PREHM

Latest developments: Oregon lands verbal commitment from linebacker Kyrie Wilson. ... Two recruits set for official visits this week cancel and commit to Notre Dame.

Analysis: Oregon hosted Wilson, a linebacker from Bakersfield, Calif., two weeks ago, and he confirmed his verbal commitment to the Ducks this week. Wilson is a 6-foot-2, 215-pound linebacker who has flown under the radar, with his only other offers coming from Fresno State and Washington State. He looks like a classic Oregon recruit who simply was overlooked. Josh and George Atkinson were set to visit Oregon this weekend, but after a visit to Notre Dame the twin brothers - both high-level recruits - canceled and committed to the Irish. It wasa surprise, but one that won't hurt Oregon's 2011 class.

On the horizon: Anthony Wallace of Skyline High School in Dallas, Texas, has set up an official visit to Oregon for Saturday. Analysis:Wallace sports offers from over 25 colleges, with Oklahoma, Texas, Miami, Ohio State and USC in the crowded field along with Oregon. Wallace is one of the few recruits from Texas to put the in-state Longhorns on hold in the recruiting process and still keep his offer. Getting Wallace for a visit alone is a big step for Chip Kelly and his program. Expect the list of official visitors to grow by the time Saturday rolls around.

- Matt Prehm, co-publisher, DuckTerritory.com