Hill No Longer Missing the Action : College basketball: After year lost to knee injury, Pepperdine power forward being counted on to lead Waves back into title contention.

The day his left knee ripped apart, pain overcame Bryan Hill the way a noxious gas fills a room, nearly causing him to black out.

A different kind of pain came later, when the 6-foot-8 sophomore forward sat in street clothes watching his teammates at Pepperdine run out of gas again and again, stumbling to an 8-19 record.

“There were times I knew that if I had played in the game, we would have won,” he said. “That’s when it really hurt. Sitting there in slacks and a dress shirt, that’s hard.”

Last season was a lost cause for Pepperdine but not a total loss for Hill: He used a redshirt year and is back this season fully healthy and with three years of eligibility remaining.

Hill, a rugged, emotional player with a strong offensive game, is being counted on to help return the Waves to contender status in the West Coast Conference.

“Bryan is a legitimate power forward who can score, rebound and play defense,” Coach Tony Fuller said. “It might take some time before he is operating at full speed but I’m expecting big things.”

Hill might be ahead of schedule. He scored 20 points in each of the Waves’ two exhibitions last week and had 12 rebounds against a club team from Brazil.

In Pepperdine’s opener Saturday, a 65-58 loss to South Florida, Hill scored 16 points and had nine rebounds.

Those aware of Hill’s background are not surprised. He showed promise as a Pepperdine freshman in 1993-94, one year after leading Banning High to the City Section 3-A Division championship and being selected 3-A player of the year.

The injury occurred late in his freshman season at Pepperdine, during a simple rebounding drill in practice.

“Feb. 17. I won’t forget,” Hill said.

Three days later he had surgery at Los Robles Medical Center in Thousand Oaks and began a lonely nine-month rehabilitation in the weight room and swimming pool and on the track.

“So many thoughts went through my mind,” he said. “Will I ever be the same player I was in high school? Will I ever get the opportunity to play again? What I love to do more than anything in the world was taken away.”

Encouraging words came from several sources. Hill’s parents, Zollie and Barbara, live in Carson and he visited them often. A fellow student, Tara Kroesch, and assistant coach Marty Wilson constantly boosted his spirits.

The most constant source of assurance was his high school coach, Marc Paez, whom Hill frequently met for breakfast.

“He’s like a second father. I respect and listen to him,” Hill said. “He opened my eyes to my talent when I was in high school and we stay in touch.”

Meanwhile, Pepperdine’s coach, Tom Asbury, left for Kansas State and was replaced by Fuller, who already held an appreciation for Hill’s skills. As San Diego State’s coach from 1992-94, Fuller recruited Hill when he was at Banning.

Hill could have rushed back into the lineup last season, but Fuller preferred to err on the side of caution and persuaded him to use a redshirt season.

“I was out of shape and didn’t know the offense. I wasn’t ready to play mentally or physically,” Hill said.

Hill practiced with the team and spent games filing away mental notes on what to avoid when he was back in uniform.

“I analyzed certain things and learned what not to do in certain situations,” he said. “Now I’ll take the things I learned and make them all positive.”

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His teammates have noticed. The Waves lacked rebounding and aggressive play near the basket last season, something Hill should provide.

“I can tell in his jumping and quickness that he is ready,” said junior guard Gerald Brown, the team’s leading scorer last season. “He’s looking real good. A healthy Bryan Hill is one of the things this team sorely needed.”

He is delivering already. Last week against Minas-Tenis, a Brazilian club team, Hill hustled up and down the floor, exhorted his teammates, and finally made an impact during the final seconds of the first half.

A teammate made a steal and Hill flew down the court, putting himself in position for a pass 10 feet from the basket.

He caught the ball and threw down a two-handed dunk just as the buzzer sounded, giving Pepperdine fans their first chance of the season to explode.

“With that dunk, I believe I started another chapter in my life,” Hill said. “I’m healthy, the team is together and everything I’ve gone through should start paying off.”