William C. Rhoden On Grant Hill’s Mother, Janet

Grant Hill is probably the best basketball player to come through Duke. You could argue for Christian Laettner obviously, maybe Shane Battier or Jason Williams, but for our money it’s Hill.

It was clear pretty early that Hill’s mother, Janet, was a major force in his life and, as Duke fans got to know her, that was obviously true.

Mrs. Hill didn’t suffer fools gladly and if her son ever acted like a fool, well, you can be sure she wouldn’t hesitate to tell him.

And, she later told William C. Rhoden, that was really important when your child is a celebrity.

Rhoden wrote this article after Ja Morant’s problems with guns this year. He talks about Morant some, acknowledging that while he didn’t really know much about Morant, Mrs. Hill set the curve here and he would have benefited from her occasionally tough love.

A very special woman, Mrs. Hill passed away last year, which was a great loss. The best evidence for this is her son Grant, who has always been admired as a player and a man. Now though he works in broadcasting, is a part owner of the Atlanta Hawks and is also the director of USA Basketball. And, for the record, while he has almost certainly done foolish things, to the best of our knowledge, no one has ever called him a fool. Well, maybe Janet, but that would have been out of love.