In the Spotlight: Idris Hilliard

School: Saint Joseph's

Class: Senior

Position: Forward

Height/weight: 6-7/215

Hometown: Roselle, N.J.

High school: The Hun School, Princeton, N.J.

Stats: 10.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 31.8 minutes

Career highlights: Had career-best 22 points in 97-89 loss to Villanova last season at the Palestra. He was 5-for-5 from the field and 12-for-13 at the line as the Hawks hung in until the final minute . . . Tipped in the game-winner against Duquesne at the OT buzzer on Jan. 21, 2009, at the Palestra. Hawks won it, 99-98.

What they are saying: "I always ask the seniors to come outside of themselves . . . There was a point in time in this preseason where he became internal, 'Like, how does this impact my game?' Because there is more competition, Idris has been forced to up his game, to play better so that he can keep his head above water. And it wasn't that way even though he started his sophomore and junior year. So that's been interesting to see him respond to that." - Phil Martelli

What he's saying: On last season, "That was the roughest season I've ever had. I never lost that many games. I hope I never have to go through that again. We're trying to do everything we can to turn that around . . . I felt like we weren't as bad a team as our record showed so I think we're going to go out there and try to prove that every time out."

Something you don't know about Hilliard: His brother Jamaal played at Lafayette and graduated in 2007. With Idris, The Hun School won the New Jersey Prep A state title in 2007, its first since 1992.