Building a bond with a college coach is important for Ahmed Hill.

The South Georgia native has meticulously weighed out all of his options and opportunities before narrowing his it down to five schools he has build the strongest relationship with throughout the recruiting process. He has narrowed the list to Florida, Florida State, Indiana, Marquette and Missouri.

Hill’s reasoning for picking these schools is simple, each coach has built a father-to-son relationship with him. This may be more important for Hill than actually being told he will have significant playing time as an incoming freshman.

“It is very important because he is going to be my coach,” Hill said. “I am going to rely on them a lot.”

Hill has not nailed down any official visits as of yet but he intends on taking all five visits because of the relationships he has built with the coaches. There is also no clear cut favorite because he understands each school and coach has something to offer.

For Hill the recruiting process has been on building the foundation toward the future. Sure, he has talked basketball with all of the coaches but being able to count on his future head coach guidance is essential.

“I have to trust him a lot,” Hill said. “We have to be around each other because that is serious for me. I just want to be able to sit down and express what may be going with me at anytime. I want someone I can talk to when I am having a rough day and I can talk to because the relationship is really good.”

Hill experienced that with Southern Stampede’s head coach Michael Stokes. The teenager was struggling with some family issues during first two games of Nike’s EYBL in Dallas and Minnesota weekends. His production, or better yet, reflected that something was wrong.

Being that he and Stokes have a solid relationship, Hill expressed his frustration and had the opportunity to clear his mind.

“We talked about it (the family issues) and certain things,” Hill said. “Then I came out and played like myself. I really never had anybody to talk to before. I didn’t really see my daddy much. So, when I can talk to a guy it helps me out a lot.

“I know one day I will have some problems (to deal with) and I want to be able to sit down with my college coach and clear my mind.”

Hill is comfortable with each of the coaches, who have talked to him about life and him fitting into their program. The latter part is something he took upon himself to really improve.

He went from being a high-volume scorer to just working on his ball handling and showing the ability to play both guard spots. Hill was constantly in the gym working on decision making, dribble and increasing his basketball IQ. Each coach has been impressed with his improvement, even though he has only been doing it since the end of his high school season.

“I didn’t really score the ball as much as I used to,” said Hill of his summer performance. “I just improved in certain ways even though I didn’t impact the game like I used to but I have improved a lot. They (the coaches) think I can play a combo guard for them.”