Given the option, redshirt junior safety Delano Hill wouldn’t want to be roommates again with his freshman cornerback brother, Lavert Hill.
Luckily, the freshmen live in the dorms anyway, so he won’t have to make that decision. Otherwise, Delano, who says Lavert can come over and visit his house whenever he wants, enjoys having his little brother in Ann Arbor with him.
Last February, the younger Hill signed his letter of intent to play at Michigan after considering a handful of schools, including Penn State, from which he decommitted last November, and in-state rival Michigan State. After considering his familial connection to the Wolverines and his status as a four-star prospect, it’s no surprise that Hill was a highly touted recruit for the Wolverines.
As a skilled younger player, Lavert doesn’t require an overwhelming amount of guidance, but his brother is there for him if he needs the help.
“I just let him go,” Delano said of Lavert. “He’s going to learn. I’m going to help him, but he’s going to learn. I ain’t ever going to hold his hand. I can teach him what he gets wrong, but he’s going to have to play for himself.”
Delano’s biggest piece of advice? “Just take it one day at a time. Don’t get too excited, that’s it. Everything will work out.”
So far, Delano thinks Lavert is handling camp well. It should come as no surprise that the older players from Detroit have made the transition easier for him.
The brothers are two of six who graduated from Detroit Public Schools. Delano is from Detroit Cass Tech, where he was a teammate of current Wolverines Jourdan Lewis and David Dawson. Lavert began at Cass Tech before transferring to Detroit King. He continued his rise as a high-ranked recruit and remained one until he arrived at Michigan.
“I think he’s handling (camp) good,” Delano said. “I think he came in with a better mindset than me my freshman year. I thought he came in with a better knowledge of what to expect. He knew more people than me coming in, so he had me, (senior cornerback Jourdan Lewis), (senior running back DeVeon Smith). He had been around here so much, from me being up here, so he knew a couple more teammates.”
Delano, who started eight games in 2015 while recording 46 tackles, will see the field quite often this season. It’s possible that the brothers will be on the field at the same time as one another this season, but even for a talented freshman, it can still take a year or two before he gets the experience he needs to play at the college level.
Regardless of the outcome this season, suiting up on game day together will prove to be a memorable bond.
“He’s doing pretty well,” Delano said. “I’m proud of him. I would have been proud of him regardless.”