DESTIN, Fla. - Alabama coach Nick Saban grew visibly somber when asked about the late Marquise Hill at the Southeastern Conference spring meetings Tuesday. Hill, who played for Saban at LSU from 2001-03 and was a defensive end for the New England Patriots the last three seasons, was found dead Monday from an accidental drowning after falling off a Jet Ski in Lake Ponchartrain in New Orleans Sunday night. "Marquise was a great person. He was a great leader," Saban said. "Certainly, he was a great player for us. I thought he played his best game ever in the national championship game against Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. His family, his mother, his grandmother are great people." Hill, a New Orleans native, was a starting defensive end for the Tigers in their 2003 national championship season. "And there's no question that you sit around a lot and think about why do things like this have to happen," Saban said. "Such a tragedy happening to young people and their families. He had such a bright future. So it gets cut short. Our sympathy is certainly with his family and loved ones. I know a lot of the players who played with him and were part of a team that was really special in terms of what they were able to accomplish. And guys that had the opportunity to coach him all feel the same way." Hill was considered among the top defensive linemen in the nation out of De La Salle High in uptown New Orleans in 2001. "He was in our first great recruiting class," Saban said. "He was one of the leaders in that class in terms of being a significant player from New Orleans who actually kind of broke the barrier for us to get a great player in New Orleans. In the same year, we recruited Marcus Spears, Michael Clayton, Andrew Whitworth, Rudy Niswanger, a really strong group of guys in the state of Louisiana." Link To Original Article
