Despite having ‘a lot of eyes on me,’ hoops star Colton Hiller plans to stay at Coatesville

Colton Hiller’s mourning began as a measured walk off the court Saturday afternoon, something neither he nor his Coatesville teammates expected after a 57-49 first-round loss in the PIAA Class 6A state playoffs to District 3’s No. 5 seed, Chambersburg.

As Hiller left, he did so with a vapor trail of questions.

For one, Hiller, the Red Raiders’ 6-foot-7 sophomore considered the nation’s No. 3 player in the 2028 class, says he is returning to Coatesville for his junior year despite nearly every major prep school and national high school basketball factory coming after him.

It certainly helped that he and his older brother Max, one of the nation’s top junior high school football players, signed on Oct. 10 with Creative Artists Agency, based in Los Angeles. It also helps that his parents, AJ and Amy, are both Coatesville graduates, with Coatesville roots, who want things as normal around their sons as possible.

College coaches just nod their heads courtside when they watch him. He is coming off a sophomore season in which he averaged 25 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.8 steals. He has been on so many big stages that he does not get anxious.

Right now, Colton’s primary concern is healing from a strenuous sophomore season. Nike’s EYBL season tips off in April and he will play up for the 17-under PSA Cardinals of the Bronx, New York.

It gives Hiller time to recover from a strained right hamstring he played with over the last month, among many other nagging injuries he endured. Colton also dealt with a broken finger, along with being the primary focus of every team Coatesville faced this season.

Still, he finished with 24 points in the Red Raiders’ state playoff loss to Chambersburg, with 15 coming in the second half. He dropped a team-high 23, 21 coming in the first half, in Coatesville’s District 1 Class 6A championship loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh, which came after he scored 32 in a district playoff victory against Chester. He scored a career-best 39 in the Red Raiders’ overtime victory in the Ches-Mont League championship over Bishop Shanahan, when he took 35 free throws.

» READ MORE: Meet Coatesville High’s Maxwell and Colton Hiller, who are rising stars in different sports

Hiller is considered the consensus best player in the area and holds more than 20 scholarship offers. The 15-year-old has scored 1,146 points with two more years ahead of him.

He knows there are still areas that need work. Hiller admits his lateral movement and ballhandling could improve, and he plans to be in the weight room with Max this summer. He went from 232 pounds in mid-November to 213 by the end of the season.

He plans on going to Los Angeles to visit CAA and get some physical tests done. The agency, Hiller says, wants him to stay at Coatesville. He receives financial support from CAA, which is handling the possibility of future commercial opportunities.

“CAA likes the strong circle I have around me at Coatesville,” he said. “I’m going to be honest, I want to be one-and-done. That’s my hope. I’m open to any [college program] out there. My goal is to get better. I know I have a lot of eyes on me. I know I can play better defense, and I know that is a want thing. I know when I want to play better defense, I’m capable of doing that.

“My main priority is to take care of my body this summer. I know I have to improve my overall game.”

Bishop Shanahan coach John Dougherty is tasked with trying to stop Hiller twice a season in the Ches-Mont League — and sometimes three times a season. Dougherty and many other coaches say Colton’s ceiling will not be reached until well after his high school career is over. Hiller already shoots better than Kobe Bryant did at the same age. What Dougherty likes is that Hiller forces everyone around him to be better, which includes his Coatesville teammates — and the opposing players and teams he faces.

For example, Shanahan’s 6-3 senior forward, Andrew Corcoran, had one of his best games ever when he scored 30 points while trying to make Hiller work on offense in the Ches-Mont championship.

“I’ll admit, selfishly, we all hope Colton stays at Coatesville, which gives our league extra attention, and he is good enough to stay home, because he will be able to go anywhere he wants,” Dougherty said. “If some college recruiter is there watching Colton, it helps Andrew by the way he played in that game.”

Hiller did not intend to start his offseason so soon. Now that it is here, he plans on taking some time off playing golf. He also wants to invest more in his body.

This year was trying for Hiller offensively, being face-guarded and double-teamed. It never jolted him. He prefers to play emotionless, or as “Cool Colton,” he said jokingly, and there is a side of himself that he called “Cruel Colton.” In the first minute of the District 1 Class 6A championship, when the top of his jersey was ripped, “Cruel Colton” appeared.

When Coatesville lost to Plymouth Whitemarsh earlier in January, PW coach Jim Donofrio put 6-6 senior Micah Thompson on Hiller, and Thompson did a good job in the Colonials’ 71-56 victory, holding Hiller to 17 points. In the district championship, Hiller came out torrid, scoring 11 points in the first quarter and 10 in the second. That was enough for Donofrio to make the halftime switch and double-team Hiller with Buddy Denard and Mani Sajid.

» READ MORE: Mani Sajid takes ‘no off days.’ Now he’s etched his name in Plymouth Whitemarsh hoops history.

“I prefer to play without emotion, but sometimes this season, it was rough, because there were points this year when I did get frustrated and played a little angry,” Hiller said. “My coaches worked on getting me open all year. I want to play emotionless.”

“Colton had to deal with being held and grabbed for entire games,” said Red Raiders coach John Allen, who led Coatesville to its last district and state championships in 2001, and started four years at Seton Hall. “He was held and grabbed for long portions in that district championship. The refs told me that they were not going to allow Hiller to be held. We moved Colton off the ball, but it was hard for him to move, because he was being held. ...

“In time, he will learn to deal with it more. We have to get him in better condition for what is ahead.”

Last summer, Colton won a gold medal with the 16-and-under U.S. basketball team in Mexico. After that commitment, he entered his sophomore season nursing an ankle injury. This summer, he plans on getting more downtime on the golf course, a passion that almost equals his love of basketball.

Gregg Downer knows budding stars when he sees them. The Hall of Fame Lower Merion coach helped shape and mold Bryant, and what is special now about Hiller, he says, could be even more special when he is 18.

“What really impresses me about Colton is that the bright lights don’t bother him,” Downer said. “That district championship was a heavyweight fight, and he came in the first half and scored 21. He seems like he has a good level head on his shoulders. If everything goes well with Colton, he could be a one-and-done. Kobe stayed true to Lower Merion, and we all know he is getting offers from all over the country.

“He has a tremendous ceiling. If he stays at Coatesville, he could make a run at Kobe’s 2,883 [career points]. He is a three-level scorer, with size and a good shooting touch. He’s different than Cooper Flagg, and I hope he stays at Coatesville, a public school that in this day and age doesn’t get that type of talent.”

“Someone like Colton Hiller makes Coatesville better, makes his league better, and makes the whole area better.”

Father Judge coach Chris Roantree, who is going for consecutive Class 6A state championships, has always been impressed by Hiller, who scored a team-high 16 in the Red Raiders’ 71-63 victory over Judge in December.

“Colton is a Coatesville kid and for being a young kid, he still gets to his spots and uses his size and length,” Roantree said. “He has unlimited range, because you have to pick him up midcourt. For being a young kid, and with everything coming at him, he’s a normal kid, which is impressive. John Allen is a strong guy, and he’s done a great job creating a platform for Colton. John’s the right guy who can protect Colton from what is out there.

“I want to see all our area kids stay. What Colton will get over the summer, he’ll get the exposure he needs. Someone like Colton Hiller makes Coatesville better, makes his league better, and makes the whole area better.”