T. Y. Hilton
Encyclopedia
Eugene "T. Y." Hilton is an American football
wide receiver
. He currently attends Florida International University
in his senior year.
and was a two-sport star (basketball
and football
) for the Golden Hawks. He was selected by the Miami Herald as a First Team All-Dade player in football in his senior year, while also selected as a First Team All-Dade in basketball both his junior and senior years. He averaged 18.7 yards per catch as a senior, with 785 receiving yards accumulated in the season to go with 16 touchdowns. He was also successful as a kick returner
, returning four kicks for touchdowns in 10 games.
Hilton committed to Florida International University
on February 6, 2008. He was scouted by the University of Mississippi
, West Virginia University
, the University of Florida
and FIU. He made the choice to go to FIU over West Virginia the night before National Signing Day
, when his son chose FIU eight times in a row when he put both an FIU and West Virginia hat in front of him.
in every year of his enrollment at FIU. In 2008, he famously returned a punt for a touchdown in his collegiate debut against Kansas
on his first touch of the game. Later that year, in a game against Arkansas State
, he threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Junior Mertile late in the game after he fumbled the hand off in a reverse play. This play became known in FIU as "The Hilton Heave". He was responsible for 12 touchdowns in his freshman year, scoring them all in five different ways, the first player in the program to do so (7 receiving touchdowns, 2 rushing touchdowns, 1 throwing touchdown, 1 punt return, 1 kickoff return). He also set the FIU single season record for total receiving yards (41 receptions for 1,013 yards), average yards per reception (24.7 yards per reception) and all-purpose yardage (2,162). He finished his freshman season ranked third in the nation in all-purpose yardage per game, with an average of 180.25 yards per contest and consequently named Sun Belt
Freshman Player of the Year.
Foreshadowing the start of FIU's 2009 campaign against Alabama
, Nick Saban
referred to Hilton as "a better offensive player than anybody [from Virginia Tech
] that we played against last week". In 2009, Hilton's first touch of the season was a 96-yard kickoff return against Alabama. He paced the team with 57 catches for 632 yards and 5 touchdowns, as well as returning 22 kickoffs for 633 yards, despite struggling with an injured knee picked up in the fifth game of the season against Western Kentucky
. He finished his sophomore season with 1,301 all-purpose yards.
In 2010, Hilton got off to a slow start, scoring no touchdowns in the first four games of the season, before returning home to play WKU and scoring his first touchdown of the season, a rushing touchdown. After a mid-season loss to FAU
, Hilton came back strong the next game against Louisiana-Monroe, scoring 4 separate touchdowns, the first coming on a 95-yard kick return while the others were two passes from Wesley Carroll
and the last a rushing touchdown. Later in the season against Troy
, Hilton put up 158 yards rushing in 6 carries with two rushing touchdowns on his way to helping set a school record of 448 total rushing yards in a game.
In his school's first bowl game appearance in the 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
, Hilton returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the second half of the game against Toledo
. He was also instrumental in a late hook and lateral play on a 4th-and-17 situation, helping his team get the first down and keeping them alive to eventually set up the winning field goal. He was named the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl MVP for his efforts in helping his team beat Toledo, 34-32. At the end of his junior season, Hilton was honored as Sun Belt Player of the Year, as well as being named to the All-Sun Belt Conference First Team at the wide receiver
and return specialist
positions. He finished his junior season with 2,089 all-purpose yards, 848 of them on receptions over 59 catches and 282 rushing yards over 30 carries, a personal best.
In 2011, Hilton got off to a hot start, putting up a school record 283 all-purpose yards in FIU's rout of North Texas
. A week later, Hilton was instrumental in FIU's 24-17 upset of Louisville
, with 74 and 83 yard catches for touchdowns. He finished that game with 7 receptions for 201 yards, breaking his school and personal single game receiving records.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
. He currently attends Florida International University
Florida International University
Florida International University is an American public research university in metropolitan Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus in University Park...
in his senior year.
Early years
Hilton was born to Tyrone and Cora Hilton. He attended Miami Springs High SchoolMiami Springs High School
Miami Springs High School is a secondary school located at 751 Dove Avenue in Miami Springs, Florida, USA; its principal is Anna L. Rodriguez. The school is part of Miami-Dade County Public School's nationally-accredited magnet program, specializing in travel and tourism, the oldest of its kind in...
and was a two-sport star (basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
and football
Gridiron football
Gridiron football , sometimes known as North American football, is an umbrella term for related codes of football primarily played in the United States and Canada. The predominant forms of gridiron football are American football and Canadian football...
) for the Golden Hawks. He was selected by the Miami Herald as a First Team All-Dade player in football in his senior year, while also selected as a First Team All-Dade in basketball both his junior and senior years. He averaged 18.7 yards per catch as a senior, with 785 receiving yards accumulated in the season to go with 16 touchdowns. He was also successful as a kick returner
Kick returner
In American and Canadian football, a kick returner is the player on special teams who is primarily responsible to catch kickoffs and attempts to return them in the opposite direction. If the ball is kicked into his own endzone, he must assess the situation on the field while the ball is in the...
, returning four kicks for touchdowns in 10 games.
Hilton committed to Florida International University
Florida International University
Florida International University is an American public research university in metropolitan Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus in University Park...
on February 6, 2008. He was scouted by the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
, West Virginia University
West Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
, the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
and FIU. He made the choice to go to FIU over West Virginia the night before National Signing Day
National Signing Day
National Signing Day most commonly refers to a day in February, usually on the first Wednesday of that month, which is the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for college football with a school that is a member of the NCAA, the main governing body for...
, when his son chose FIU eight times in a row when he put both an FIU and West Virginia hat in front of him.
College career
Hilton has been a starter under Mario CristobalMario Cristobal
-External links:*...
in every year of his enrollment at FIU. In 2008, he famously returned a punt for a touchdown in his collegiate debut against Kansas
Kansas Jayhawks football
The Kansas Jayhawks football program is the intercollegiate football program of the University of Kansas Jayhawks. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I, and the team competes in the Big 12 Conference....
on his first touch of the game. Later that year, in a game against Arkansas State
Arkansas State Red Wolves football
The Arkansas State Red Wolves football team represents Arkansas State University in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football competition. The team was originally founded in 1911, and, since 2001, Arkansas State has competed as a member of the...
, he threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Junior Mertile late in the game after he fumbled the hand off in a reverse play. This play became known in FIU as "The Hilton Heave". He was responsible for 12 touchdowns in his freshman year, scoring them all in five different ways, the first player in the program to do so (7 receiving touchdowns, 2 rushing touchdowns, 1 throwing touchdown, 1 punt return, 1 kickoff return). He also set the FIU single season record for total receiving yards (41 receptions for 1,013 yards), average yards per reception (24.7 yards per reception) and all-purpose yardage (2,162). He finished his freshman season ranked third in the nation in all-purpose yardage per game, with an average of 180.25 yards per contest and consequently named Sun Belt
Sun Belt Conference
The Sun Belt Conference is a college athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Its football teams participate in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision , the higher of two levels of Division I football competition . The Sun Belt has member institutions...
Freshman Player of the Year.
Foreshadowing the start of FIU's 2009 campaign against Alabama
Alabama Crimson Tide football
|TeamName = Alabama football |Image = Alabama Crimson Tide Logo.svg |ImageSize = 110 |Helmet = Alabama Football.png |ImageSize2 = 150 |CurrentSeason = 2011 Alabama Crimson Tide football team...
, Nick Saban
Nick Saban
Nicholas Lou "Nick" Saban is the head coach of the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide football team. Saban has previously served as head coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins and three other NCAA universities: LSU, Michigan State and Toledo...
referred to Hilton as "a better offensive player than anybody [from Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech Hokies football
The Virginia Tech Hokies football team is a college football program that competes in NCAA Division I-FBS, in the Coastal Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They have more wins in team history than any other program in the ACC. Their home games are played at Lane Stadium which seats over...
] that we played against last week". In 2009, Hilton's first touch of the season was a 96-yard kickoff return against Alabama. He paced the team with 57 catches for 632 yards and 5 touchdowns, as well as returning 22 kickoffs for 633 yards, despite struggling with an injured knee picked up in the fifth game of the season against Western Kentucky
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers football program is a college football team that represents Western Kentucky University. The team is currently a member of the Sun Belt Conference, which is a Division I Bowl Subdivision member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association...
. He finished his sophomore season with 1,301 all-purpose yards.
In 2010, Hilton got off to a slow start, scoring no touchdowns in the first four games of the season, before returning home to play WKU and scoring his first touchdown of the season, a rushing touchdown. After a mid-season loss to FAU
Florida Atlantic Owls football
The Florida Atlantic Owls football team represents Florida Atlantic University, a mid-major NCAA Division I-A college football team, that competes in the Sun Belt Conference.-Overview and history:...
, Hilton came back strong the next game against Louisiana-Monroe, scoring 4 separate touchdowns, the first coming on a 95-yard kick return while the others were two passes from Wesley Carroll
Wesley Carroll (quarterback)
Wesley Mason Carroll is an American football quarterback. He currently attends Florida International University in his junior year, after transferring from Mississippi State University in January 2009....
and the last a rushing touchdown. Later in the season against Troy
Troy Trojans football
The Troy Trojans football program represents Troy University, Alabama, in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A, of which it has been a member since 2001...
, Hilton put up 158 yards rushing in 6 carries with two rushing touchdowns on his way to helping set a school record of 448 total rushing yards in a game.
In his school's first bowl game appearance in the 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
The 2010 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl was a NCAA bowl game played at 8:30 p.m. EST on December 26, 2010 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan and aired on ESPN...
, Hilton returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the second half of the game against Toledo
Toledo Rockets football
The Toledo Rockets football team is a college football program in Division I FBS, representing the University of Toledo. The Rockets compete in the Mid-American Conference. Toledo began playing football in 1917, although it did not field teams in 1931, and 1943-1945. Since the inception of the AP...
. He was also instrumental in a late hook and lateral play on a 4th-and-17 situation, helping his team get the first down and keeping them alive to eventually set up the winning field goal. He was named the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl MVP for his efforts in helping his team beat Toledo, 34-32. At the end of his junior season, Hilton was honored as Sun Belt Player of the Year, as well as being named to the All-Sun Belt Conference First Team at the wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
and return specialist
Return specialist
A Return Specialist is a player on American football or Canadian football special teams who specializes in returning punts and kickoff returns. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most play other positions as well. The special teams counterpart of a return specialist is a...
positions. He finished his junior season with 2,089 all-purpose yards, 848 of them on receptions over 59 catches and 282 rushing yards over 30 carries, a personal best.
In 2011, Hilton got off to a hot start, putting up a school record 283 all-purpose yards in FIU's rout of North Texas
North Texas Mean Green football
The North Texas Mean Green football team represents the University of North Texas in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I-FBS college football and competes as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. The Mean Green have attained several conference championships, including four...
. A week later, Hilton was instrumental in FIU's 24-17 upset of Louisville
Louisville Cardinals football
The Louisville Cardinals football team represents the University of Louisville in college football as a member of the Big East Conference. Howard Schnellenberger started the program's rise to relevancy after winning the Miami Hurricanes' first national championship...
, with 74 and 83 yard catches for touchdowns. He finished that game with 7 receptions for 201 yards, breaking his school and personal single game receiving records.