After briefly leaving Cincinnati to attend Hillcrest Academy prep school in Gilbert, Arizona, top basketball standout Paul McMillan IV has returned to town for his senior year. As of earlier this month, he was no longer listed on the team's roster.
The two-time first team All-Ohio point guard has re-enrolled at Woodward High School where he played the previous two seasons.
McMillan was playing with Hillcrest in the opening week of October based on his father's Twitter posts. But by his 18th birthday a week ago, he was home.
Woodward athletic director Jabreel Moton confirmed McMillan IV was back with the Bulldogs Thursday.
"Paul is back with us as the school academics that were promised at the prep school were unable to be delivered," Moton said by email.
Bulldogs basketball coach Jarelle Redden adds that McMillan IV has been cleared to play.
"It's a positive thing," Redden said. "Paul's a good kid, 4.0 student. He always loved us. It was a miscommunication there (Hillcrest) with the academics, but he loved it. The academics is critical and key for him."
Redden says the McMillan family has no issues with the Hillcrest coaches, but it made more sense for Paul IV to be home.
"It's going to be a beautiful story," were the comments of Paul McMillan III when contacted by The Enquirer two weeks ago about the possibility of returning to Cincinnati.
The elder McMillan had previously coached with Redden but will now take on a lesser role as the Bulldogs had coaches in place to fill the void when the McMillans left.
Backstory
Paul McMillan IV decided to transfer to Hillcrest in late June. Richard Obert of the Arizona Republic spoke to their coach at the time.
"Paul is an elite point guard who can put up points," said Nick Weaver, recruiting coordinator and co-founder of Hillcrest Prep. "He is very tough on the defensive end and will get in you 92 feet. He adds speed, quickness and toughness to the program. We are so excited to have Paul."
While there, McMillan picked up offers from Nevada coached by Steve Alford and Arizona State coached by Bobby Hurley. 247sports.com still lists McMillan as the No. 13 player in Arizona and the 20th best point guard of the 2022 class.
His other reported offers include Cincinnati, Xavier, Kansas State, Ole Miss, Penn State, Purdue, Tennessee-Martin, Louisville, Grambling and Cleveland State. He has also visited Kentucky and Ohio State.
McMillan spent his freshman year at Hughes, then transferred to Woodward in the Cincinnati Metro Athletic Conference where he has played the last two seasons. He's been CMAC Player of the Year twice, First Team District 16 and All-Southwest District three times and First Team All-Ohio twice. He is 75 points shy of 2,000 for his career.
As a Hughes ninth-grader, he averaged 24.7 points per game. At Woodward, he hit for 31.3 as a sophomore and last year averaged 28 for the Bulldogs league championship team. His shooting accuracy last season was 54.5% from the field, 52.5 on three-point shots and 83.7 on free throws.
Woodward was 19-4 last season under Redden, bowing out in the Division II district semifinal in overtime against Wyoming. Starters due back with McMillan are 6-foot-6 senior Keliese Frye and 5-foot-11 junior Kanye Moreland.
"We've got more talent, we're faster, we're longer and athletic," Redden said. "Some of my young guys that played lesser minutes are older. It's a family. Everybody wants each other to make it, it's not about individual talent. It's about playing basketball the right way."
Woodward's CMAC-Red Division title last winter was the school's first league crown in basketball in 23 years. It was their second victory of the season over Taft and highly-regarded Rayvon Griffith. From that point on the Taft Senators didn't lose until the Division III state semifinal game in Dayton.
Griffith is also being pursued by many suitors. The junior was recently at Nippert Stadium for an unofficial visit with Cincinnati's Bearcats. With McMillan back, the two shall duel yet again.
Woodward is scheduled to open their season Nov. 27 at home with Columbus Beechcroft at 12:30 p.m.
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