NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL FINAL : This Hill Has Been as Solid as a Rock : Duke: On a team with Laettner, Hurley and Grant Hill, Thomas Hill has often been overlooked.

Thomas Hill made a curious statement during Duke’s run to the Final Four, telling a reporter that he looked forward to the day when he would develop into one of the Blue Devils’ best players.

Hadn’t he seen the statistics?

Hill is Duke’s No. 2 scorer, behind Christian Laettner.

But on a team that includes Laettner, many people’s choice as college basketball’s player of the year, and Bobby Hurley, generally considered the nation’s top point guard, the contributions of other Blue Devil players are often overlooked, apparently even by the players themselves.

Thomas Hill, a 6-foot-5 junior swingman from Lancaster, Tex., isn’t even the most celebrated Hill on the Duke roster.

That distinction goes to Grant Hill, the Blue Devils’ No. 3 scorer, No. 2 rebounder and most spectacular dunker, son of former Dallas Cowboy running back Calvin Hill and no relation to Thomas.

Thomas Hill Jr. is a son of the bronze medalist in the 110-meter high hurdles at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

He has averaged 14.5 points, shot 53.5% and is one of the top defensive players on a Duke team that will play Michigan for the national championship tonight at the Metrodome.

But outside of Cameron Indoor Stadium, where a group of female fans and fellow students wear “Don’t Mess With Texas” T-shirts and hold up signs that read, “Don’t Mess With Thomas,” he is virtually unheralded.

“I don’t particularly mind it, but people do overlook me at times,” he said. “I think I’m playing well. I produce. I can score points and play defense. Whatever I can do to help the team, as long as I’m producing, it really doesn’t matter.”

If it does, it hasn’t shown.

“Thomas has handled it well,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “In some ways, it has benefited him, because, if you’re going over a scouting report, you’re trying to stop Laettner and Hurley and Grant Hill.

“He has to understand the benefits of that (for him).”

Hill, though, wouldn’t mind a little media attention.

In a different situation, with fewer talented teammates, he might be a little more productive and lot more recognized.

“I think about that,” he said. “But I think the trade-off is, I’ve been in three Final Fours, (won a) national championship--and possibly another one. A lot of people can’t realize that. Sometimes, I think, yeah, I could be at another school averaging 20-some points a game and being a star player, but that’s not what it’s all about. There’s more to it.”

Hill said that he was recruited by every school in the Southwest Conference, but he had only a passing interest in Arkansas, which has since moved to the Southeastern Conference, and Southern Methodist.

He made official visits to Kansas, Duke and DePaul.

Kansas might have been his first choice, but the Jayhawks were about to be penalized by the NCAA for recruiting violations.

At Duke, he has been a starter since midway through his sophomore season, helping the Blue Devils win their first national title last season, when his average of 11.5 points ranked third on the team.

Last summer, he played in the Pan American Games at Havana.

This season, he has helped the Blue Devils weather the best shot of every team on their schedule while ranked No. 1 the entire season.

No team has repeated as national champion since 1973, when UCLA won the last of its seven consecutive titles, but Duke has a shot.

“I’ve thought about it a great deal,” said Hill, who has scored in double figures in all but three of the Blue Devils’ 35 games. “Right after the Indiana game (an 81-78 victory in Saturday’s semifinals), I was thinking to myself, ‘we could do something special.’ ”

A visit last month to Pauley Pavilion, where the Blue Devils defeated UCLA, 75-65, helped to motivate Hill in his quest.

“I saw all the (championship) banners,” he said. “I can’t believe that any team can win back-to-back championships, let alone as many as UCLA won. It’s unbelievable.

“And it made me realize that it would be a shame to mess up something we’re trying to do by being lazy or not wanting it badly enough.”