Jyaire Hill returns to Kankakee for second annual Suga Summer Camp

KANKAKEE – One of Kankakee football’s own was back on his high school field Saturday.

Former Kays star, 2023 Kankakee graduate and current University of Michigan defensive back Jyaire “Suga” Hill was in town to host his second annual Suga Summer Camp. Athletes aged 4 to 17 participated in drills, scrimmages, and other fun activities at the free event, which was held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Last year’s camp had a $25 fee, with plenty of local businesses and individuals sponsoring spots to allow attendees to participate for free. This year, Hill said he wanted everyone to be able to participate without charge.

“It was great,” Hill said. “I did this one free and I want everybody to have the experience. Come out here free of charge, and everybody come have a good day.”

This paired with the buzz from last year’s inaugural camp led to a bigger turnout for the second year.

“More kids for sure,” Hill said. “Everybody who missed out the first time, saw the videos, they want to come out and have their kids come and do something like this.”

All the campers got free T-shirts upon arrival and free food at the conclusion of the camp as well. They were separated into groups to take part in many of the activities, including various football drills, with some more age-friendly versions available for the camp’s younger participants, scrimmages and one-on-ones to up the competitiveness.

There was also a tent near the entrance to the field with representatives of the Foundation for a Drug-Free World providing information on how to live drug free. At the end of the day, the campers all lined up to sign a drug-free pledge.

Jamirr Jones, an incoming fifth grader at Bradley West, said he had a good day at the camp and enjoyed being able to play some football alongside a player from the Division I level.

“It was fun,” he said. “The scrimmage was fun, king of the hill was fun, the routes were fun. Everything was.”

While there were plenty of younger kids taking part, the camp also had some area high school players participating to get a little extra offseason work in and just have some fun.

Rontez Smith is heading into his junior season at Bradley-Bourbonnais. He attended the camp last year as well, looking to keep busy while also taking the opportunity to pick up pointers.

“It’s good for the community because there’s not a lot of things to do in Kankakee County,” Smith said. “Just to get out of the house and be able to talk and get help from someone that just went D-I is amazing.”

Helping to run the camp alongside Hill were plenty of family, friends, teammates and area coaches. Kankakee head coach Ed Hazelett, who returned to the Kays in February after two seasons on former Kankakee head coach Derek Hart’s staff at North Central in Indianapolis, also lent a hand.

Hazelett was Kankakee’s defensive coordinator from 2019 to 2021, where he helped coach Hill and his teammates to a runner-up finish at state in 2021.

“It’s really exciting, especially to see something you preach to your players, always come back and give back,” he said. “Jyaire doing that is really impressive, and I’m really proud of him.”

In just under two months, Hill will be back on the field for the Wolverines after enjoying a breakout season last year. After playing in four games in Michigan’s national title season in 2023, Hill stepped into the starting lineup for nine games last season and appeared in 12 of the team’s 13 games.

He made 35 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and he recorded the first sack and first interception of his college career.

“I was thrown in that fire,” he said. “I had to catch on quick, learn pretty fast from the older guys. But I jumped on really quick and got better going on in the season.”

His goals for this upcoming season are simple.

“Turn up and do better than I did last year,” he said.