Free State senior center Ashli Hill, who has proven in her three years to be a dominant defensive force for the Firebirds, is a much-improved offensive player, coach Bryan Duncan said.

There’s a stigma attached to Free State High senior Ashli Hill that indicates she’s a below-average offensive basketball player.

Not true, says Free State coach Bryan Duncan.

“I’ve always defended her on this,” Duncan said. “But the truth is she’s actually a very good offensive player. In fact, she’s a much, much better offensive player now than she was when she was a sophomore.”

If that’s true, then why have her numbers gotten worse, people ask? Why have her shot attempts decreased? Why doesn’t she dominate a game the way any 6-foot-4 high school girl should?

“People get so caught up in her numbers,” Duncan said. “But we put way too much emphasis on numbers. She passes the ball better, she catches the ball better and she makes better decisions. Just because she’s tall doesn’t automatically make her a good low-post player.”

Consider Hill to be the face of the modern era of high school athletics. Who cares if she’s doing what her coach asks her to do? Who cares if she’s using her talents in a way that leads to better opportunities for her teammates? Who cares if she’s a monster on the defensive end?

If she’s not scoring, she’s obviously not doing something right.

“I do get pretty tired of hearing that,” Hill said. “I get double-teamed a lot, sometimes they put three people on me, so I usually pass it back out because it’s hard to really do anything with two or three people guarding me.

“I would like to dominate both offensively and defensively, but I can’t do that at the high school level because of the double teams. So I’ll continue to focus on defense because I’m good at it and I like it.”

That quote alone shows just how far Hill has come during her high school career. There was a time when she forced everything. She knew people expected her to dominate the way she did at Southwest Junior High so, often times against better judgment, she tried to do just that. She took bad shots, forced her offense and let her struggles on that end carry over to the defensive end, where she often found herself out of position and in foul trouble.

Not any more, says Duncan. Although Hill looks a lot like the same girl who has started at Free State since her sophomore season, she’s a much-improved shell of her former self — mentally and physically.

“Ashli’s matured a lot, both as a person and a basketball player,” Duncan said. “I think you can tell that just by being around her. She’s doing things now that she was not capable of doing when she was a sophomore and even last year. And that’s maturity.”

Hill always has wanted to play Division I basketball. She’s also always wanted to go away for college. So when Oklahoma State University came calling with a scholarship offer during her sophomore season at FSHS, Hill didn’t waste any time accepting it. But things have changed a lot since then, both for Hill and for Okie State.

In the two classes OSU recruited while waiting for Hill to become old enough to sign, the Cowboys added a 6-6 center and now go four-deep in the post. In addition, former OSU director of player development, Bruce Erickson — who was Hill’s main contact in Stillwater, Okla. — left to take an associate head coaching position at UMKC.

Because of those factors, as well as a couple others, Hill has reopened her recruitment and now expects to take full advantage of the system before deciding on a place to play college basketball. She has an official visit set up with the University of South Florida, is in the process of scheduling one with Clemson and also plans to visit UMKC. In addition, Duncan said he continues to receive calls on a weekly basis from major Division I programs all over the country.

“I have decommitted from OSU,” Hill said. “We still have a good relationship, but I just felt like it was better for me to explore going some place else because I did commit so early. I wish I would’ve gone on more official visits and gone through the process a little more. That would have made my decision a lot easier.”

Although Duncan fully supported Hill’s decision to orally commit to OSU two years ago, he said he thought others could learn a valuable lesson from Hill’s situation.

“The high-stakes, high-pressure nature of the game now has led to quicker decisions by universities, athletes and parents,” Duncan said. “Every situation is certainly different, but I think as long as kids go through the process and take their time to make an informed decision, things will work out. I definitely think Ashli’s going to be fine.”

Although her recruitment figures to occupy a fair portion of her mind during the next several months, Hill said she would not let it distract her main goal of helping the Firebirds make a run at a state championship.

Thanks in large part to Hill’s dominance on the defensive end — she broke her own school record for blocks in a game with 12 in a victory against Shawnee Heights — Free State has jumped out to a 4-2 start.

Friday’s game at Olathe East was called off because of the weather. Hill and the Firebirds next will take the court Tuesday at home against Shawnee Mission Northwest.