The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MAY 2022 THE WOLVERINE 43 "What my coach said about my jersey, knowing how many great players that she's coached and has been around, for her to say that means the world," Hill- mon said. "That's someone who took a chance on me when I was 18 years old. I'll continue to say that I'm not the player I am without my teammates and my coaches surrounding me. In terms of the jersey retirement, if that happens, you put the years of all my teammates on there, too." While she technically could have re- turned for a fifth season, Hillmon put an end to her U-M journey by declaring for the 2022 WNBA Draft on March 29. The Atlanta Dream fulfilled the next step of her career by selecting her in the second round with the No. 15 overall pick on April 11. This made Hillmon the high- est-drafted Wolverine in women's pro- gram history and the first to come off the board since Tabitha Poole in 2005. Some draft analysts predicted a first- round selection for Hillmon, but the attitude and character that made her a star at Michigan shined through in reac- tion to her Dream selection. "I'm just excited to be here," Hillmon said in her post-draft press conference. "I think that being disappointed in this moment is neglectful to the people who weren't picked up at all. This has been a dream of mine for a very long time. So just being picked up by a team, for somebody to believe in me, first round, third round, I'm excited to be where I'm at. "But everything is motivation. I could have been picked No. 1 and I still would have been motivated to get better, to perfect my craft. I wouldn't say disap- pointed, but always ready to work." The Dream is in the early stages of a rebuild as an organization, but Hillmon is used to that challenge. She is ready to take what she learned in Ann Arbor and build another winner. "We kind of saw that with Michigan where, as my years went on, we were able to win more, be more successful, have some firsts," she said. "That's what I'm looking to do in Atlanta." ❏ Hillmon, the No. 15 pick in the WNBA Draft, exited Michigan as the only U-M basketball player — man or woman — to reach 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. PHOTO COURTESY WNBA