Hope remains for Hill

RALEIGH -- ******

CORRECTION

In Caulton Tudor's column in Monday's Sports section, the doctor who did the knee surgery on N.C. State football player Anthony Hill was incorrectly identified. The doctor was Michael Fajgenbaum, not David Fajgenbaum.

******

The nickname -- "Ant Hill" -- is a mountain of a misnomer.

If N.C. State's football team had a positional giant on its 2007 roster, it would have been 6-foot-6, 265-pound tight end Anthony Hill.

That all changed July 25, when Hill underwent a 2 1/2-hour surgery in Rex Hospital on his left knee. The procedure instantly dimmed the Wolfpack's offensive line outlook and put the player's promising future on hold.

The NFL scouting line on Hill was impressive -- the ACC's next big-time tight end, a player with the same skills package that marked the college careers of Alge Crumpler, Heath Miller and Vernon Davis among others.

"Now," Hill says, "I don't know. I think I'm going to be fine, but it's going to be a long wait. They say six to eight months before I can start to really get going."

The road from preseason all-star to a medical redshirt season was mapped by deception.

One day before surgery, Hill said he was running at "95 percent" full speed and doing most of the things in offseason workouts that he'd done since arriving at State from Houston, by way of Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy, in 2004.

"There was never much pain," he said. "The day it happened, I thought it was just a little tweak."

That was in late May during an informal pass-receiving workout with several teammates. Hill said he made a routine route cut and felt a twinge in his knee, the sort of low-grade pain players experience daily.

"I didn't think anything about it really. But just to be safe, I had it checked out," he said. "It turned out to be the most confusing thing I've ever been through. I always thought there would be all this pain, but it's not that way."

The tests began the following day and continued through much of the summer. Hill was examined by three doctors and discussed the implications of surgery with former Wolfpack star and former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher.

Hill said there was no consensus of opinion about the extent of the trouble. The possibilities ranged from slight damage correctable by arthroscopic surgery in a matter of minutes to what it turned out to be -- an extensive anterior cruciate ligament tear that begged for fast attention.

The surgery was described as completely successful by surgeon David Fajgenbaum of the school's medical staff.

But football players for years have viewed major ACL surgery with a sense of doom. It's not the career killer it once was, but still it strikes fear.

Hill sensed the worst seconds after regaining consciousness.

"I went in hoping it would be all over in 15 minutes, and I'd be fine," he said. "But when I came to, they said, 'We're sorry.' I knew right then I'd have to start looking forward to the 2008 season."

So far, Hill says rehab has gone smoothly. He wears a big brace and walks gingerly, but the mental depression is fading.

It helps that he has only to look around the Pack's locker room to find inspiration. Teammates John Dunlap (wide receiver), Jamelle Eugene (running back) and Julian Williams (offensive lineman) have returned from similar operations with little loss of quickness.

"Those guys are my motivation," Hill said. "I think about Jamelle. He's one of the quickest dudes on the team. And John Dunlap is one of our best receivers. He makes all the cuts he ever did. I think I can do it, too."

The pro scouts will have no choice except to wait and and watch.

Exceptional tight ends are valuable in the NFL, but the entry bar is high. Early-round draft choices have to be strong enough to irritate defensive linemen, quick enough to knock around outside linebackers and sure-handed enough to catch underneath passes in heavy traffic.

Hill, as a junior, could deal with all of those demands. His 45 catches for 478 yards were team highs by far. Now, almost each step he takes in '08 will be closely charted.

"I've got to come back and work twice as hard, 10 times as hard," Hill said. "I look at it as a challenge. But I think everything happens for a legitimate reason. I have to play with the cards that were dealt."

Those cards may not look so hot now, but don't be surprised to see Hill still win a nice jackpot. After all, the guy was born with good hands.