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McKay, who has coached some really good players in his day — including NBA All-Star Danny Granger when he was at New Mexico — says Gill is one of his all-time favorites. "He's not only one of the best players I've ever coached, but one of the best people I've ever coached," said McKay, who coached Gill on an Athletes in Action team that traveled to Jamaica this past summer. "He's been a lovely addition to this family." Gill's teammates concur. "He's brought toughness, leadership," Anderson said. "He's a very strong Christian man. He brings a different aspect to our team. He's just awesome. He's one of those guys who you aspire to be like because his attitude is always in the right place whether everything's going good on the court or not as well as he wants it. "He battles through adversity better than a lot of men that I know. Honestly, you could not ask for a better teammate." Gill has most certainly faced challenges in his life, starting when he was 12 and his parents divorced. "My life revolved around them being together, and when they broke up, it was devastating to me," Gill said, "but it actually made me stronger. "Now I realize that it was for the best. Both of them are happy now." Then, before Gill's senior year in high school, Gill's mother, Sandy, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She beat the disease, only to see it return. Gill took it hard. "I was really upset, mad, angry," he said. "I just saw how strong she was and it made me realize that she was living for something bigger than herself. I really wanted to know more, so I got really close to God then and started building a relationship with him." Gill, whose mother has been cancer free for about a year, says he has learned to embrace life's curveballs. i14-17.Anthony Gill.indd 5 "They're just things that we go through," he said. "We get tested day in and day out. Even to this day, I will always be tested. It's how you react to those things that really shapes you into who you are and who you're going to be." Off the court, Gill, who goes by the nicknames "A.G." and "Geezy," has a playful side. "He's a prankster, but you would never expect the pranks that he pulls," said Anderson, smiling. "It's always something silly with Geezy." When Mitchell graduates after this season, Gill figures to step into a more permanent spot in Virginia's lineup. Gill's offensive repertoire has been compared to former Virginia star Mike Scott's. With two more seasons of eligibility remaining after this one, Gill — who says he patterned some of his game after Scott's — figures to be one of the program cornerstones moving forward. The one thing that has held him back so far in terms of playing a bigger role has been learning the nuances of Bennett's "Pack-Line" defense. However, according to Bennett, he has made good strides. Bennett said the only bright spot from his team's lopsided 87-52 loss at Tennessee Dec. 30 was Gill's defensive play. "Defensively, he was the best out of everybody," Bennett said. "He looked like he was in the right spots and I saw him working hard [on that end] and being a little better. "Coming on in that area is going to help him because he's a threat offensively — he's physical, he draws fouls. As we put him in the right spots, he'll continue to evolve. But he gives us a great attitude, is a hard worker and he's always a threat out there offensively and he's improving defensively. "He's just got to keep getting better in all those areas as the season progresses and throughout his career because he's a big piece of what we're trying to do." ◆ 1/16/14 11:14 AM