Naperville Central senior point guard TJ Hillman knows many people question how successful the team will be this season.

But no one doubts what role Hillman will play.

“Be the leader, be the role model and let the younger guys look up to me and try to be the best guy that I can as a person and a player,” Hillman said. “I’m super excited. I love the group of guys we have.

“I had great leaders when I was a sophomore and junior, and I’m looking to replicate what they did.”

By all accounts, Hillman is off to a good start. The third-year starter is the most experienced and talented player for the Redhawks, who hope Hillman can lead them to greener pastures after they went a combined 24-64 the past three seasons.

“TJ’s leadership is a huge impact on our team,” Naperville Central senior guard Matt Sands said. “He’s pretty much our glue.

“He’s the reason why we’re all giving it 100% in practice. He’s the reason why we care as much as we do for the game, not just on the court but off the court.”

Indeed, Hillman’s leadership began during the offseason, when he made sure the players amped up their work ethic in the gym and in the classroom.

“He’s making sure we’re tight with our grades, and it’s not like he’s bossy,” Sands said. “He does it in a friendship way. He’s a great kid, great player, great person to look after.”

Naperville Central coach Mike Wilson quickly found that out after taking over the program last season. He identified Hillman as someone with potential to be a great senior leader.

“We knew he was going to be a captain from day one,” Wilson said. “We do a lot of open gyms, and we do a lot of weight room, and he’s leading it.

“I don’t have to get on guys to get there because he’s doing it for me.”

Hillman thinks the Redhawks can do more winning this season. It didn’t show in the season opener against Wheaton St. Francis, which got off to a hot start and rolled to a 53-38 victory at Geneva’s Bob Schick Thanksgiving Tournament on Monday.

Hillman picked up two early fouls, and his playing time was limited before he fouled out with 4:05 left in the fourth quarter. Even so, he scored a team-high 11 points to go with two assists.

Naperville Central’s TJ Hillman sets up a play during a game against Wheaton St. Francis in the Bob Schick Thanksgiving Tournament in Geneva on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (H. Rick Bamman / Naperville Sun)

Sands added nine points, all on 3-pointers. But the Redhawks shot 12 of 54, including 9 of 37 from beyond the arc.

The Redhawks played without post players Casey Cooperkawa and Oskar Eriksson, and the Vikings took advantage, with 6-foot-8 center Ben Whorlow scoring a game-high 20 points to go with nine rebounds and three blocks. Naperville Central was outrebounded 39-26.

“Having our big guys out for the game, I knew we were going to be a little bit overmatched on the glass,” Wilson said. “So we’re hoping to get them back next week.”

That would take some of the pressure off of Hillman, who often sees double-teams.

“You could kind of see his soccer player motor in him,” Wilson said. “He doesn’t really get tired.

“Obviously, he got limited with fouls a bit tonight, and we struggled to see the ball go in the basket. I know he was disappointed tonight, but we’ve got 29 more games, and this is his third year playing varsity, so he knows what the games look like, and he knows there are sometimes games like this that happen.”

Hillman, who took several knocks in the game, did put the result in perspective.

“Take away the positives but see the negatives, that’s what I think,” Hillman said. “We’re going to watch film and see what we need to do better.

“I think there were some positives — energy-wise, we were there the whole game. We really did try.”

Naperville Central’s TJ Hillman (1) and coach Mike Wilson talk during a game against Wheaton St. Francis in the Bob Schick Thanksgiving Tournament in Geneva on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (H. Rick Bamman / Naperville Sun)

Hillman, who has offers from several Division III colleges, made sure of that.

“We’ve put in so much work all summer,” he said. “Tonight, it wasn’t showing what we showed all summer. We’ll be a better team than last year.”

Sands also thinks better days are ahead for Hillman and the Redhawks.

“I won’t be surprised if TJ gets a ton of offers from big schools,” Sands said. “Central could shock a lot of schools this year with a lot of impressive wins.”

Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/25/basketball-naperville-central-tj-hillman/