Bucknell Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 2016
- Class:
- 1998
Sport: Football
Willie Hill was the Most Valuable Player on the record-setting 1997 Bison football team that finished 10-1. That year, he earned Associated Press Second Team FCS All-America honors after posting 133 tackles, sixth-most in team history. Also an American Football Coaches Association All-American in 1997, Hill finished his career with 317 tackles, six sacks and two interceptions.
Hill played outside linebacker for three seasons, and then moved to inside linebacker as a senior to replace graduated All-American Brandon Little. Hill started all 33 games over his final three seasons and was a key part of coach Tom Gadd's vaunted defenses. The Bison led the Patriot League in total defense in all three of his seasons as a starter, and the team captured the 1996 Patriot League championship before breaking the school victory record a year later.
In that memorable 1997 season when the Bison won 10 games in a season for the first time in school history, Hill had a 19-tackle performance in a 20-16 win over Penn and a 14-tackle, two-sack effort in a 24-20 win over Harvard, which was the Crimson's only loss in what would become a 9-1 season.Â
Hill's 317 career tackles ranked in the top 10 in team history, even though he missed his freshman year due to appendicitis.
Hill captured the Christy Mathewson Award before graduating in 1998.Â
(Bucknell Hall of Fame Class of 2016)
