Free State's Ashli Hill (33) takes a shot over SM South's Rebecca Dunn (4) during the second half of the game on Wednesday, March 3, 2010, at FSHS.

Maybe at some point next winter, when she’s scraping ice off her windshield or battling sub-zero wind chills on her walk to class, Ashli Hill briefly will second-guess her college decision.

But as of now, the 6-foot-5 Free State High senior forward seems quite content with it.

Hill recently committed to play basketball at UMKC, deciding against a school — the University of South Florida — with a considerably gentler climate in an effort to ensure her family can watch her play consistently.

“My family, my grandparents, they love coming to watch me play,” said Hill, who had been committed to Oklahoma State since her sophomore year before de-committing a couple months ago. “Florida would have been difficult. I’ve never had anybody not be there at my games, so it would have been a little weird.”

What the ‘Roos will get in Hill is a post player whose defensive prowess has altered several Sunflower League games over the course of the past two seasons — a player who, given her size and length, figures to be a potential impact player at the collegiate level.

What they’ll also be getting, says Free State coach Bryan Duncan, is a player who has made major strides since arriving at Free State as a gangly sophomore in the fall of 2007.

“When she first got here, her work ethic was off and on, and she wasn’t real strong in the classroom, and she wasn’t really much of a leader,” said Duncan, whose team is set to begin play this week in the Class 6A state tournament. “And to watch her mature and grow in all those areas the past three years has really been special as a coach and something to be very proud of.”

Now a senior captain, Hill — one of two Firebirds players committed to play Div. I basketball next season, along with Kansas State-bound Chantay Caron — has developed into one of the team’s unquestioned leaders, a senior who’ll pull younger teammates aside at practice to offer tips or advice, sometimes, according to Duncan, using her own early-career mistakes as teaching tools.

Her on-court feats haven’t been too bad, either — particularly during a late-season stretch in which she has established herself as the area’s most dominant post presence.

In a victory over Lawrence High on Feb. 26, for instance, she finished with game-highs in points (14), rebounds (11) and blocks (seven), and despite battling foul trouble in Friday’s sub-state finals victory over Shawnee Mission West, she finished with 11 points and 10 blocks and made several key plays during a tight second half.

“She’s gone from a skinny sophomore that reached and fouled too much to a dominating force in the paint,” Duncan said. “To see her score buckets in crucial situations (against SM West) was extremely important, and to see her be able to play with foul trouble and still dominate defensively shows the strides she’s made.”

Whether the Firebirds can make a run at a state title should depend heavily on whether Hill can keep her recent hot streak going.

Free State, the No. 7 seed, will open play at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday against second-seeded Wichita Heights, whose 21-1 record matches the best record of any of the tournament’s eight teams and whose roster features a wealth of Div. I talent.

“We’re really excited to be here,” Hill said Monday. “This is our first time (at state) for us seniors, and we want a ring.”