Cougars’ Hill Has Broken the Mold : College basketball: Craving change, Washington State guard bulks up, sports new attitude--and a tattoo.

Eddie Hill is a work in progress.

His body, jersey number and attitude have changed. The flawless mechanics and downy-soft release of his jump shot are the only constants in his basketball life.

“I wanted to make sure this year was different. I wanted to have a whole different feel for it,” said Hill, a Cleveland High graduate and starting off-guard for Washington State.

Hence, the changes. He bulked up, switched from No. 32 to No. 5, even got a tattoo. Inscribed on his right biceps is a dark blue “5.” Close inspection reveals the artwork, which is about the size of a quarter, is composed of five tiny Cs.

“That’s for concentration, consistency, confidence, composure and conditioning,” Hill explained. “Coach (Kelvin) Sampson started it. Last year he said, ‘We have to concentrate and compete.’ That stuck in my head.”

Not that Hill is a C student of the game. He is averaging 13.9 points a game, second only to Cougar point guard Tony Harris (14.8). Despite a slow start this season, Hill has made 60 of 137 three-point shots and is fourth in the Pacific-10 Conference with a 43.8% shooting percentage. He is shooting 82.1% from the line.

“I look at Eddie as a weapon,” said Sampson, whose team is 14-6 and has won four of its last five conference games. “He’s a role player for us.”

That role is to score, and score often. Unlike Harris, a slashing penetrator, Hill floats around the perimeter sizing up his shot. That he has been labeled a long-range specialist doesn’t bother Hill.

“Hey,” he said with a shrug, “it’s not that bad. I get to shoot. What more could you ask for?”

In Hill’s case, plenty. He has made difficult demands of his body and, for the most part, his body has responded. He began lifting weights seriously after last season, adding 20 pounds of muscle to his wiry frame. He pumps iron four days a week, two hours a session.

“I’ve been thin all my life. This feels good now. It’s healthy,” he said. “Nobody’s gonna push me around. If somebody’s gonna set a pick, I think I’m strong enough to get through there. At the beginning of the season, I was bullying a little bit. I’m not doing it anymore, but I think there was a time when I wanted to show my strength.”

Bulging biceps notwithstanding, Hill is no Karl Malone. His 178 pounds are distributed on a 6-foot-1 body, making him look solid but far from muscle-bound.

“He’s fat,” Cougar forward Fred Ferguson quipped with a chuckle. “He doesn’t move like he’s fat, but we see it in the weight room.”

Of course, Ferguson’s perspective might be warped by his own build, remarkably angular at 6-9, 218 pounds.

Teammates tease Hill about his penchant for protein drinks, which he downs several times a day to gain even more weight.

“Ed eats and eats,” Ferguson said. “Then he drinks Exceed. He brings it on road trips, on the plane. Every time he eats, he drinks one. Man, he don’t need to gain no weight.”

Hill isn’t complaining. He enjoys his new body. More time in front of the mirror, perhaps?

“Maybe there is,” he said, adding, “In the weight room, I try not to look too much. When I first started lifting, a guy told me, ‘Don’t show off an unfinished product,’ so I never wear tank tops in the weight room.”

No one, therefore, can inspect his tattoo, which he recently got at a parlor in Moscow, Ida. He wanted a “5” on his arm for posterity.

“It’s always been my favorite number,” he said.

The logic behind that is unorthodox--he has tried to identify everything in his life that corresponds with five, or a multiple thereof. For instance, he wore No. 32 during his career at Cleveland and first three seasons at WSU. Three plus two is five.

Another: There are five letters in Eddie. He was born on the sixth day of April, the fourth month (“Four, five , six,” he said, “it kind of flows.”). On and on.

“I wanted to go out with a bang,” he said. “Do something different. We haven’t made the NCAA tournament since I’ve been here, and maybe this will help.”

With such bizarre reasoning, it is little wonder Hill’s major is psychology. He plans to counsel and coach after college--provided his playing career comes to a close--in order to apply his studies. But a psychology background helps even now.

“Being a shooter is mental warfare,” he said. “When you’re shooting from 20 feet, the shots aren’t going to fall down all the time. You’ve got to be mentally tough and keep shooting.”

He learned that lesson the hard way, sloshing through a slump at the start of the season during which he connected on one-third of his shots from beyond the arc, an ice-cold stretch by his standards.

“Eddie used to base his whole existence on whether his shot went in or not,” Sampson said. “I said, ‘OK, Eddie, let’s look at our plus-minus chart.’ That rewards kids for getting loose balls, taking charges, getting defensive rebounds, getting to the free-throw line, all the dirty work. Eddie is increasing in those areas.”

Improving, yes, but as Hill is quick to admit, he’s an unfinished product.