BIO: Jeromie Hill was born in Cairns (QLD) and began playing basketball as a junior with the Cairns basketball program. Hill received a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (Canberra) in 2009. He spent one year there and played for the program’s state league team.

NBL EXPERIENCE

Jeromie Hill made his NBL debut with the Sydney Kings at 24 years of age. He scored eight points in his first game.

Sydney entered the 2015/16 season still searching for its first winning record since returning to the NBL, having finished seventh at 9-19 the previous year after a season-ending injury to Josh Childress derailed its campaign. Damian Cotter returned as head coach, while Ben Madgen (to Belgium), Cody Ellis (to Illawarra), Kevin White (to Illawarra), Kendrick Perry (free agent), Josh Duinker (free agent) and Daniel Joyce (free agent) departed. Childress re-signed and Jason Cadee, captain Tom Garlepp and reigning Rookie of the Year Angus Brandt returned, with Julian Khazzouh (via Sagesse), Steven Markovic (via Townsville), Rhys Carter (via New Zealand), Jeromie Hill (via UTSA), Dion Prewster (via Wellington) and Marcus Thornton (via William & Mary) added, with Thornton joining after being selected by Boston with the 45th pick in the NBA Draft.

The Cairns product arrived directly from Texas-San Antonio after averaging 16 points and 8.1 rebounds during his senior season, with Sydney viewing his three-point shooting and rebounding as areas that could help improve its frontcourt depth.

Sydney opened the season against Cairns at Qantas Credit Union Arena on October 10, where Hill (8 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist) came from the bench in his NBL debut as the Kings defeated the Taipans 87-63. Khazzouh (22 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 5 blocks) and Cadee (19 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals) led Sydney, while Mark Worthington (13 points) was Cairns’ leading scorer.

Hill (4.1 points and 3 rebounds across 23 games) came from the bench in all 23 appearances and did not start a game, providing frontcourt depth behind Garlepp, Khazzouh and Brandt. He appeared in 23 of Sydney’s 28 games, with two of his five non-appearances coming earlier in the season without a confirmed injury being reported before a knee injury ended his season during the final weeks.

Hill’s best all-round game came against Townsville on October 15, where he made 3-of-4 field goals and finished with 7 points, a season-high 9 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Khazzouh (15 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block) and Cadee (12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal) led Sydney, while Jordair Jett (22 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists) carried Townsville to an 80-77 victory.

Sydney added development player Jayden Hodgson (0 points across 6 games) (via Centre of Excellence) on October 15 after he had spent time training with the Kings. Hill had already joined Sydney before the season and was not brought in as an injury replacement for Childress. Childress (21 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.7 blocks across 13 games) missed the opening four games with a foot injury before returning against Adelaide on October 23 and breaking his right hand. Al Harrington (17.7 points and 6.8 rebounds across 6 games) (via Fujian) was brought out of retirement as his short-term injury replacement after Childress contacted his former Atlanta Hawks teammate. “He was the first person I reached out to when the team spoke of an injury replacement,” Childress said. Harrington’s six-game stint ended when Childress returned in late November.

Sydney remained last at 3-9 and released Cotter on November 28, with former Washington Wizards assistant Joe Connelly appointed interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Childress then fractured his left hand in his second game back, leading Sydney to sign Damion James (7 points and 7.8 rebounds across 5 games) (via Le Mans) as another injury replacement. James played five games before being released when Childress was reactivated on December 29.

Khazzouh (13.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks across 17 games) then ruptured his right quadriceps tendon against Illawarra in December and was ruled out for the remainder of the season. Assistant coach Ben Knight (0.5 points across 4 games) (via North Sydney) came out of retirement as emergency frontcourt cover before Jordan Vandenberg (3.1 points across 8 games) (via Westchester) was signed on January 7 as Khazzouh’s injury replacement for the remainder of the season. Craig Moller (training squad) trialled alongside Vandenberg for the position and remained with Sydney as a full-time training player after Vandenberg received the active roster spot. Markovic (3 points across 7 games) underwent surgery to remove his tonsils in December and, with Sydney believing he would struggle to regain full fitness before the season ended, Indiana Faithfull (2.6 points across 7 games) (via West Liberty) was signed as his replacement.

Hill’s season ended in early February when he tore the lateral meniscus in his right knee during practice before Sydney’s February 5 game against Perth, ruling him out of the final three games. Garlepp described the Kings’ injury problems by saying, “It’s been a case of Murphy’s Law this year. Everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong.” Moller was elevated from the training squad after Hill went down as Sydney attempted to fill another hole in its frontcourt. Hill remained under contract for the following season, with incoming managing director Jeff Van Groningen later saying he “didn’t get his chance to show much because of injury.”

Cadee (14 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 3.5 assists across 28 games) developed into Sydney’s leading full-season scorer, while Garlepp (13.9 points and 4.2 rebounds across 27 games) produced the highest-scoring season of his career and was named the Kings’ Club Most Valuable Player. Thornton (12.8 points across 28 games), Brandt (8.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks across 28 games) and Carter (5.6 points across 28 games) provided the other major contributions. Cadee received the Members’ Most Valuable Player and Community awards, Brandt received the Mike Wrublewski Most Inspirational Player award, Prewster (3.5 points across 28 games) was named Defensive Player of the Year and Knight received the Laurie Watterson Clubman of the Year award.

With Hill still sidelined by his right knee injury, Sydney finished its season in Townsville on February 13, where Cadee (32 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal) and Childress (31 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 blocks) helped the Kings force overtime, while Omar Samhan (25 points and 13 rebounds) led the Crocodiles to a 126-123 victory after the scores were tied 109-109 at the end of regulation, leaving Sydney last with a 6-22 record.

2016/17
After finishing last with a 6-22 record in 2015/16, Sydney appointed Australian basketball icon Andrew Gaze as head coach on a three-year deal and overhauled its roster. Josh Childress and Al Harrington were not re-signed, while Angus Brandt (to Perth), Marcus Thornton, Rhys Carter and Jordan Vandenberg also departed. Reigning NBL MVP and Best Defensive Player Kevin Lisch (via Illawarra) turned down a contract extension from the Hawks to accept a more lucrative three-year deal with Sydney which made him the highest-paid player in the NBL, while Brad Newley (via Spain) and Aleks Maric (via Obradoiro) were added. Mirko Djeric (via Townsville) had signed in May before requesting a release (to Serbia) in July to pursue his career there. Lisch becoming an Australian citizen opened all three import positions, with Greg Whittington (via Sioux Falls), Michael Bryson (via UC Santa Barbara) and Josh Powell (via Luoyang Zhonghe) signed, while Craig Moller (via Ballarat) and Bo Liu (via Shenzhen) joined as development players. Powell’s signing became even more important when Julian Khazzouh’s quadriceps injury ruled him out for the entire season, while Lisch was appointed captain.

Hill (14 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 3 blocks) produced his best game of the season in Sydney’s opener against Brisbane at Qudos Bank Arena on October 8, making six of eight shots and scoring 11 points after halftime as the Kings recovered from a double-digit deficit and briefly took the lead during the fourth quarter. Lisch (20 points and 3 steals) and Cadee (11 points and 3 rebounds) provided the other major contributions, while Daniel Kickert (17 points and 4 assists) led Brisbane to a 77-73 victory.

Hill (2 points across 19 games) came from the bench in every appearance and averaged 5.6 minutes per game as his opportunities were reduced by Sydney’s much deeper frontcourt. No injury was reported for him during 2016/17, with his nine non-appearances coming as he remained outside Gaze’s regular rotation.

Five days after the opener, Hill (2 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist) played seven minutes as Sydney collected its first victory with an 88-84 win over Illawarra at the WIN Entertainment Centre. Lisch (20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals) and Cadee (20 points and 5 assists) led the Kings, while Marvelle Harris (23 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists) was Illawarra’s best. The victory was followed by a video of the Kings celebrating in the locker room which went viral and helped build the excitement surrounding the rebuilt team.

Sydney’s third import position became a revolving door during the season. Bryson (1.8 points across 4 games) (released) struggled to make an impact and was replaced after four appearances by 13-year NBA veteran Steve Blake (5.9 points across 9 games) (via Detroit). Blake was granted indefinite compassionate leave (to United States) after receiving news that a family member was seriously ill and did not return, with Garrett Jackson (3.8 points and 3.5 rebounds across 6 games) (via North West Tasmania) signed on December 22 after training with the Kings and filling the vacant import position. Dion Prewster (0.9 points across 17 games), who began the season as Khazzouh’s temporary injury replacement, had his agreement converted into a contract for the remainder of the season after the first seven games. Moller (3.3 points across 13 games), originally a development player, was promoted to the full-time roster following Blake’s departure. Tony Tolovae (0 points across 1 game) then suffered a season-ending ankle injury, creating an opportunity for William McDowell-White (2.1 points across 7 games) (via Fresno State) to join as a development player after being unable to gain NCAA clearance to play college basketball.

Newley (17.6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1.2 steals across 23 games) led Sydney in scoring, while Lisch (16.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.8 steals across 27 games), Cadee (13 points and 3.2 assists across 28 games), Whittington (11.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 1.5 steals across 28 games), Powell (9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds across 27 games), Garlepp (5.6 points across 28 games) and Maric (5.4 points and 4.7 rebounds across 28 games) provided the other major contributions. Newley and Lisch were both selected to the All-NBL Second Team, while Newley won the Kings’ MVP and Members Player of the Year awards, Lisch was named the club’s Defensive Player and Maric received the Mike Wrublewski Most Inspirational Player award. After beginning the season 8-3 and being viewed as a championship contender, Sydney went 5-12 the rest of the way and lost nine of its final twelve games.

Sydney travelled to Perth Arena on February 10 needing a victory to keep its playoff hopes alive, where Hill (2 points, 1 steal, and 1 block) played six minutes as Newley (19 points) and Cadee (15 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists) led the Kings, while Casey Prather (29 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals) carried Perth to a 101-74 victory, eliminating Sydney and leaving the Kings seventh with a 13-15 record.

2017/18
The Kings began the season searching for relevancy both on the court and amongst the Sydney public. The first move made to accomplish this was inking Australian basketball icon Andrew Gaze to a three-year deal as the team’s head coach.

Shortly after, the team convinced star import Kevin Lisch to turn down a contract extension from the Illawarra Hawks to sign a lucrative three-year that made him the highest-paid player in the NBL.

Gaze and Kings GM Jeff Van Groningen then looked to bolster the Kings roster with new talent after a listless season the year before which resulted in a 6–22 record and a last place finish.

More major signings were incoming when the team convinced two Australian Boomers to join the club on multi-year deals, first swingman Brad Newley (Spain) and shortly after Aleks Maric, whose nickname ‘Truck’ explains clearly the type of game he would bring to the Kings.

Lisch, Newley, and Maric would be added to the returning Aussie core of Tom Garlepp, Jason Cadee, Jeromie Hill and Julian Khazzouh.

An additional bonus for the Kings was that Lisch had become an Australian citizen in March 2016, giving them the option to sign three additional imports in addition to Lisch. The Kings had been carried by imports Josh Childress and Al Harrington the year prior but chose not to re-sign either player, replacing them with Michael Bryson, Greg Whittington and Josh Powell.

Powell’s signing proved critical as shortly after it became apparent that a quadriceps injury would keep Khazzouh off the court for the entire season.

In the weeks leading up to the start of the season, Lisch was appointed team captain and the team began the season. In the opening game of the season, Lisch (20 points) led the Kings in scoring but couldn’t get the win over a motivated Brisbane squad (73–77). Josh Powell would arrive in time to play in the Kings’ second game and racked up 14 points and six rebounds in an 88–84 win over the Illawarra Hawks. The win preceded a video of the team celebrating their first win, which went viral and had many picking the team to reach the playoffs for the first time since the Kings re-entered the league.

Import Michael Bryson (1.8 points, 1 rebound, and 0.8 assists) struggled to make an impact in his short stint with the Kings and was replaced with 13-year NBA veteran, Steve Blake. Despite Bryson’s lack of production, Lisch (16.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.9 steals), Newley (17.6 points, 5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.2 steals), and Cadee (13 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 3.2 assists) were firing on all cylinders and the team were sitting in top spot on the ladder with a 3-1 record.

On November 12, 2016, when Kevin Lisch scored a season-high 30 points to deliver an 87–71 win over Melbourne, the team became title favourites. The play of Lisch led coach Gaze and new teammate Steve Blake to say Lisch was good enough to play in the NBA.

However, things began to deteriorate after that. The Kings’ ‘front-heavy’ home schedule began to catch up to them. Blake (5.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.2 assists) struggled to provide any of the ability he had shown during this NBA career, and after being granted indefinite leave on compassionate grounds to return home to be with a sick family member, it was clear he would not be returning.

Lisch saw his production decrease and seemingly started to burn out, and Powell (9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds), who would go on to deliver a couple of big games, finished the season coming off the bench.

At this stage, Sydney had lost five of their past eight games and, by Christmas, had fallen to third on the ladder (11-8). Instead of maintaining a search for a suitable replacement for Blake, signed forward Garrett Jackson, who had been playing in the state league and was also a training player for the Kings for several seasons.

An unfortunate season-ending ankle injury suffered by Tony Tolovae, who had appeared in only one game for the Kings, resulted in opening up an additional spot on the roster. Sydney would use it to William McDowell-White (2.1 points, 0.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in seven games) as a development player for the rest of the season. McDowell-White, had been heavily recruited by several NCAA programs, including powerhouses like Michigan State, Louisville and USC but McDowell-White but after committing to play with the University of Fresno State, he was unable to gain clearance to play in the NCAA.

Under first-year coach Gaze, the Kings tried and tested a number of different line-ups, but nothing saw them reclaim their early form. After an 8-3 start, they went 5-12, including losing nine of their final twelve games.

Sydney finished in seventh place (13-15) and missed the playoffs in disappointing fashion, while new additions Lisch and Newley earned All-NBL second team selection.

During his second NBL season, Hill would appear in 19 games, averaging 2.0 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 0.5 assists.

Jeromie Hill played two seasons the Sydney Kings. He averaged 3.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.4 assists in 42 NBL games.