Horizon League Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)
By Joey Loose
15. Xavier Hill-Mais
A 6’7 forward from Greensboro, North Carolina, Hill-Mais is a talented frontcourt player who played four seasons at Oakland. He was a big part of the Golden Grizzlies in the early stages of their time in the Horizon League but contributed to a ton of on-court progress with the school.
He was just a bench player as an underclassman, but Oakland was in great shape, winning 23 games during his freshman season and the Horizon regular season title as a sophomore. After redshirting the next season, he became a regular contributor, averaging 18.3 points and 7.2 rebounds during his junior season, including a 30-point performance on opening night against Toledo. Hill-Mais was Oakland’s big offensive threat as an upperclassman, putting up similar numbers as a senior in the pandemic-shortened season.
An impressively built athlete, he contributed on two very winning teams early in his career and earned First Team All-Horizon honors for his final two seasons. He was one of the top scorers and rebounders in the conference and led all players in field goal percentage as a senior. While Oakland never played in the Big Dance during Hill Mais’s time with the school, he was still a major cog in the Golden Grizzlies’ machine and one of Greg Kampe’s memorable players from recent years.