AURORA – There are certain points in your life that you’ll always remember.
Cheyenne Wells coach Kendall Pelton has one involving star player Corey Hill.
“I remember exactly where I was when I heard he was coming here,” Pelton said. “At Easter, one of his mom’s good friends told me he was moving here. And I thought, ‘A 6-7 freshman coming into Cheyenne Wells?’
“I was just excited to have some height. The year before, my first year, I think our tallest kid was 6-foot.”
Four years later, the Iowa-born and Florida-raised Hill has likely exceeded all expectations contemplated on that Easter, even for a big dude playing small-school basketball. Not only has he scored 1,540 career points, he also has 1,095 career rebounds, a figure that puts him among Colorado’s all-time leaders in that category.
Hill, now listed at 6-8 and 255 pounds, has third-ranked Cheyenne Wells (17-1) in pursuit of a potential state championship to go with its 2024 crown. (The Tigers also took home titles in 1954 and 1955.)
CHSAA’s record book is a work in progress, but currently only seven players are known to have collected more caroms in their careers. Only 14 are known to have more than 1,000. (To submit a record, click
here.)
When asked what he enjoyed more, Hill reflected and decided it was rebounding.
“I like the feeling of scoring, but I like the impact that rebounding has on the game, especially for my team,” Hill said.
He leads the state this season with an astounding average of 17.1 boards per game, and at his current rate – if the Tigers play the maximum of 10 games – he would finish in the top five all-time in Colorado.
Not bad for a guy who collected just 55 points and 50 rebounds as a freshman.
“I mean, what dumb coach doesn’t play a 6-7 freshman in 1A basketball?” Pelton said, laughing. “But he’s improved dramatically, and you can tell by playing (club basketball) the last three summers that he’s made a huge jump. He works on his game more than any kid we’ve ever had.”
That right, despite his height, basketball didn’t necessarily come easily for Hill.
“If you would have seen me my freshman year, you would have had me on the bench, too,” Hill said. “I was pretty big. I was 6-7, but (Pelton) left out that I was probably closer to 300 pounds. But the transition from freshman to sophomore year, I think it was a mentality thing – mainly because I wasn’t sure if this is what I wanted to do or if I was good at it.”
Hill started playing summer basketball on the club circuit, facing top talent from around the state and the country. His workout regimen and nutrition improved. And so did his conditioning.
“Football helped for sure,” Hill said. “It’s 6-man football here. Coming from 11-man to 6-man, it’s like track & field out there. There’s a lot of running.”
Hill has been a mainstay on the Cheyenne Wells football team, too, helping the Tigers win a 2024 state championship as well as reaching the 2025 semifinals, the 2023 title game and the 2022 quarterfinals. For his career, he caught 58 passes for 1,029 yards and 27 touchdowns.
“I wasn’t too fond of basketball growing up,” Hill said. “I was definitely a football player. … I just don’t think I had the finesse for basketball at a young age. But I definitely grew into my body.”
He stands out on a 1A basketball floor as well as on a 6-man football field.
“Playing against our high school competition … I’m different,” Hill said.
The initial reaction to Hill joining the world of Colorado 1A basketball?
“A lot of it was, ‘Where in the world did you find this guy?'” Pelton said, laughing. “It was really fun. It was cool to see. But probably the coolest part of having him on the team is that, still, everywhere you go, walking into another gym or another school, kids just look up and say, ‘Wow.’ They are so surprised. They’ve never seen anything like it.
“… It’s new for our area to have someone with this size and talent.”
And while some tire of standing out, Hill has gotten used to it.
“I didn’t get a lot of attention growing up (in Florida), not like now,” he said. “But I like to think I know who I am, and other people know who I am, and I just need to show up. And I can’t lie, the attention does help get me going.”
He may be different, but he’s also a difference-maker.
“He’s a lot of fun to coach,” Pelton said. “I’ve never had a guy who is so basketball-smart. He sees the floor really well. … More than likely I’ll never coach a player like him again. So I’m enjoying every day.
“I enjoy his competitiveness. He does a really good job of competing at practice, and that goes a long way for us.”
Hill, who is interested in pursuing sports medicine in college, will continue playing basketball in at Division II CSU-Pueblo.
“I’m able to stay close to my mom, and having her at every game, meant a lot to me,” Hill said, who moved with her to her hometown four years ago. “The coaching staff knows what they are doing. They showed me what they’d do with me and how they would use me, and I liked it a lot.”
His recruiting visit included trying to shield him from the ThunderWolves’ football coaching staff.
“They were trying to keep me as far away as possible from the football coaches,” Hill said, smiling. “I won’t lie. They saw my size, and they were kind of interested.”
And what’s the football scouting report on Hill?
“I’d say I’ve got some nice hands,” Hill said. “I definitely had some interest (from other colleges), but I just wasn’t sure if that was the right route for me.”
In basketball, despite the rebounding prowess, don’t mistake Hill for a bulky bruiser.
“We keep records of a lot of the drills we do in practice, and he’s got about every shooting record we have,” Pelton said. “He probably has the best handles, and the best passing ability on our team. It’s good when the ball is in his hands. Yes, you want him at the rim at 6-9, but he’s such a good passer and has such a good feel for the game that you could put him anywhere you want.”
And beyond the 3-point arc?
“Don’t ask about his percentage this year,” Pelton said. “It’s not very good, but it could be. If he takes the right shots, it will be there.”
As Cheyenne Wells and the rest of Colorado’s teams point for the postseason, a number of key contests await. For the Tigers, that includes a Feb. 20 meeting with No. 1 McClave and a Feb. 27 matchup against No. 7 Elbert.
“We’re in a good spot,” Pelton said. “We only returned two players who played a lot last season, so to be in this spot says a ton about what Corey has done for us. We’ve got some big games coming up.”
Said Hill: “We just need to bring our confidence up a little bit. We know we’re capable of big things. It’s been hard for us to find our confidence, but I think once we do, I don’t think there’s a team in 1A that could really stop us.”
Winning has become a habit in Cheyenne Wells. Besides the aforementioned successes, the basketball team reached the semifinals last year and the quarterfinals in 2023.
“It’s definitely been fun,” Hill said. “I think the community is the big thing with Cheyenne Wells. The community is very involved in everything we do. When our team starts taking off, there’s no feeling like it. Little kids look up to you. I have kids coming up asking for autographs.”
The Tigers were also state champions in track & field in 2024.
“I was born and raised here, and played here, so it means a lot to me to be in charge of the program,” Pelton said. “It’s a great community. I don’t think there’s any place better than Cheyenne Wells – although I might be a little biased. It’s one of those communities … last week we drove 2 ½ hours to play and we had people take time out of their day to come watch us play – and it’s the best part of their day. It means a lot. It’s really fun. The following we get is really exciting to have.
“Not a lot of schools this size get the following we do.”
