The Belleville News Democrat reported on Friday that 16-year-old Illinois commit Malcolm Hill, Jr. is recovering from surgery to correct a rare condition that caused a blood clot in his left arm. A broken rib that went undiagnosed contributed to an occurance of thoracic outlet syndrome, which can cause weakness, numbness and tingling in the affected extremity. St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter is currently on the DL with a similar ailment.
Doctors at St. Louis Children’s hospital removed part of Hill’s rib to relieve pressure on a vein in his left side.
Hill was a 23.8 point-per-game scorer for Belleville East high school as a junior. The 6'6" swingman is expected to recover in time to play his senior season for the school, and his father expects him to be back in the swing of things before too long.
“He’s doing fine. It’s a lot better,” Malcolm Hill Sr. told the newspaper. “He’s been cleared to run again. He’s going through physical therapy. It’s looking like he’s going to ready (for the season). It should be all right when they start practice, if everything goes well. He didn’t lose much weight.”
“From being a former head coach myself, it’s going to take a little time to get his conditioning back The second thing is his timing is probably going to be off for a month. And of course, the strength, he’s going to have to build that back.
“The plus side is usually he plays year-round and he’s a little tired at this time of the year. But he’s been able to rest, so he should be refreshed for his senior year.”
photo: Tim Vizer of the Belleville News Democrat