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player ready...Hobart’s Anthony Hnilo hasn’t hesitated to embrace different experiences.
A different school. Different sports. Different roles.
“I love to try new things, new sports,” Hnilo said. “I don’t want to have any wasted potential. I feel like my ceiling is very high. So I just try to reach my full potential in everything I can.”
Hnilo certainly appears to be doing that for the Brickies (7-5). After primarily coming off the bench last season, the 6-foot-2 senior guard is averaging team highs of 18.9 points, 3.0 assists and 1.8 steals to go along with 4.6 rebounds.
Hnilo prepared for increased responsibility after Hobart’s top two scorers graduated.
“I was in the gym all summer,” he said. “I knew what I had to do this year. I had to step up. It’s not surprising because I put in the hours.”
Hnilo realized opponents last season were trying to force him left, so he focused on developing that hand. He improved on finishing strong at the rim and with his shot.
“My main goal, I’ve been trying to stay consistent,” he said. “Last year, I would have some good games and some bad games. This year, I’m trying to have all good games. I can’t have off nights. I have to be there for my team.”
Hnilo has delivered, increasing his production dramatically after averaging 5.2 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists last season.
“He’s somebody who I’m really proud of, just with his growth on the court, but also maturing,” Hobart second-year coach Aaron Butcher said. “He’s come a long way in that area.
“On the court, he’s been really efficient this year. His numbers are great. He’s understanding the game more. He’s understanding his spots. He’s just really doing a good job. That all just goes back to his maturity and growth.”
Hnilo mostly played on the junior varsity team as a sophomore. He didn’t play any sports at all during his freshman year, which he began in Wauconda, Illinois. With e-learning in place there amid the coronavirus pandemic, Hnilo transferred to Hobart in the middle of the school year.
“At first, it was difficult,” he said. “But I knew it probably would be the best for me, so I stuck it out. I think it turned out pretty well.”
Indeed, Hnilo began working out with the basketball team that summer before debuting as a sophomore. He and Caleb Mamushe, a senior guard/forward who is the team’s captain, quickly became friends.
“He came in sophomore year, and he’s always been a hard worker,” Mamushe said. “He’s had a lot of success, and his work’s showing. He’s bringing a lot of scoring to the team, which I feel like we haven’t had in a while. We’ve had a couple of guys come through, but he’s really leading us. He’s definitely put in the work to do it.
“He fit in right away. He’s a guy we needed, for sure. I’ve been with this group of guys for a long time, and freshman year, we weren’t winning a lot. He came in sophomore year, we’re playing JV, and he led us. That year, we won 14 or 15 games, so he fit in right away and really led us.”
During his sophomore year, Hnilo also started competing in track and field for the first time. He wound up qualifying for regionals in the high jump that season and the next. He has his eye on making the state meet this spring.
“I didn’t even know what track was in Illinois,” he said. “I did high jump so I would jump higher for basketball. I didn’t think I would be good at it. But I got the hang of it pretty fast.”
Hnilo also played football for the first time this past season. Given his athleticism, his friends convinced him to give it a try. Hnilo, who said he “loves the Bears,” had four catches for 34 yards as a wide receiver and made nine tackles with an interception as a cornerback.
“I was actually pretty good,” he said. “I loved it. It was so much fun.”
Basketball, though, remains Hnilo’s passion. He said he enjoys playing any level, whether it’s high school, AAU or a pickup game.
“The more I play, the more experience I get, the better it is,” he said. “I’m always trying to play basketball.”
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Hnilo has also been coaching a basketball team in a youth league for two seasons. He’s working with fourth graders, with two practices a week and two games on Sundays.
He intends to continue playing after high school while studying computer science.
“My dream has always been to play college basketball, so that’s what I’m trying to get to,” he said. “But right now, I’m just trying to win as many games as we can with my brothers, play the best I can and figure that out after track.”