Former Kankakee football standout Jyaire Hill partners with White Sox

CHICAGO – Before he ever saw a pitch thrown at Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox, Jyaire “Suga” Hill threw his own.

Hill, a 2023 Kankakee High School graduate and current defensive back at the University of Michigan, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the White Sox hosted the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday. It was the first pro baseball game he’s attended, one he was joined at by friends and family as Hill was recognized as a CHISOX Athlete, the White Sox’s Name, Image and Likeness program.

“It feels like the first game in the Big House (the home of Michigan football), for real,” Hill said of seeing his name, photo, hometown and alma mater flash on the stadium scoreboard as he threw out the first pitch. “That’s what it feels like. Probably more love.”

CHISOX Athlete is an NIL program that provides “current and former collegiate athletes with a platform outside of their respective sports to receive big-league mentorship, explore industry opportunities and increase exposure for their personal and professional endeavors,” per the organization.

Hill is one of nine new student-athletes that joined the program this year. While CHISOX provides members with a variety of different opportunities outside the lines, it will be tough for anything else to be as enjoyable as Tuesday was. Joined on the field by his brothers, Joeron Jr., King and Kash, for the first pitch, Hill then joined more friends and family in a personal suite to take in his first big league game.

“This experience, the baseball experience,” Hill said is his favorite part of being a CHISOX Athlete. “My first game and the first pitch, too, I’ve never thrown the ball [off the pitcher’s mound] before.”

Hill estimated that his own baseball career ended about 15 years ago, finding both love and talent on the gridiron and in track and field instead. A multiple-time all-stater in both sports, Hill was a member of the Kankakee football team that made the IHSA Class 5A State championship game in 2021, as well as a member of the Class 2A 2022 State champion track and field team, winning a total of three relay titles during his prep career.

As a four-star recruit, Hill graduated a semester early in December 2022 to enroll early at Michigan, where he played in four games and ultimately redshirted during the Wolverines’ 2023 College Football Playoff National Championship season.

And as a redshirt freshman last fall, Hill quickly became an integral part of the Michigan defense. As a starting cornerback, he appeared in 12 games and registered 35 total tackles, eight pass break ups, an interception and a sack.

Hill claimed to have not done anything too special, he just continued to work hard and tired to follow the footsteps of his older teammates, like All-American Will Johnson, a second-round pick by the Arizona Cardinals in last week’s NFL Draft.

“I was just following the people in front of me and their steps, one by one,” Hill said. “Especially Will Johnson, who left this year. Being behind him, I followed whatever he did, took it and applied it to my game.”

Becoming a CHISOX Athlete is the latest way Hill has been able to take advantage of the ever-shifting NIL landscape around college sports. He started using it to his advantage last year, with events such as his Suga Summer Camp last summer and the inaugural Jyaire “Suga” Hill Foundation Grinchmas Party and Toy Drive last December. He plans on continuing that trend with a backpack and bike giveaway over the summer, as well as a Fourth of July community party.

“Just giving back to my community, family, stuff like that,” Hill said he hopes to use NIL for the most.

Hill hopes that soon, he’ll go from using his Big Ten platform to using a professional platform. He’ll become eligible for the NFL Draft as early as next year, with “way-too-early” mock drafts from Bleacher Report’s Brent Sobleski and Fox Sports’ Rob Rang both pegging Hill as a potential first-round pick.

Whenever that opportunity comes, Hill knows that if he continues on his path, it will come at the right time.

“Yeah, it is (getting closer),” Hill said with a smile and laugh. “Every year passes, it gets closer.”