Hill had a hard time sitting out year one

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Very few members of the recruiting class of 2015 found their way to the field in year one. K.J. Hill was one of a couple players that was often mentioned by head coach Urban Meyer of being someone who was right on the cusp, but never made it in the season.

Now Hill, along with more than 20 of his recruiting classmates, is hoping that 2016 is the year as opportunity is widely available with 16 open starting positions and countless more within the two-deep.

"It was frustrating but I just kept praying about it and I knew it was in God's hands," Hill said over the weekend at Ohio State's football media days. "Coach Meyer talked to me too about, talked to me almost every day about it too. It was frustrating but I got over it and I think that really helped me."

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There is a trend for players to report a semester early to their college destination, the reason behind that being a chance to go through spring ball and also have one semester under their belts academically as they make the transition. That was not something that Hill was able to take advantage of as a summer enrollee and at this point of 2016, he feels like he is in a much better spot.

"I feel way better prepared," Hill added. "Coming in over the summer it was just straight to fall camp. It feels good right now because I know the plays, I can read my triangles better, I can read coverages more and that year just helped me understand the game more."

Of course there was another adjustment that needed to be made, moving from Little Rock (Ark.) to Columbus (Ohio).

"The cold," Hill joked. "During the winter time, I have never felt that type of coldness in my life."

All joking aside however, Hill feels like a different player in year two. He has noticed a change in his quarterback as well this offseason camp. While Hill was not here in 2014 when J.T. Barrett led the Buckeyes through the season, all the way up to the Michigan game where he fell to a season ending injury, he was here for the 2015 year. A year where Barrett and Cardale Jones battled for the starting quarterback position and one where he felt that Barrett maybe didn't look as good as he could.

That has changed now in 2016 with Jones in Buffalo and the team squarely looking at Barrett to lead them.

"This fall camp it is a little bit different because we don’t have that quarterback controversy," the young receiver said. "I think the feels like it is more his team. He should feel that way. He is more of a leader this year and stepping up and helping the young guys out and leading the team this year."