Intro

Daniel Archuleta: 00:00 – 00:22

What’s up, Gators! Welcome back to Gator Talk. I’m your host for this episode, Daniel Archuleta. And our guest for today, he’s a 2013 SFSU broadcast journalism graduate. He’s formerly of The Morning Roast on 95.7 The Game and he has just wrapped up his seventh season on NBC Sports Bay Area as the Warriors pre- and postgame host. We welcome back to SF State, Bonta Hill.

Interview

Bonta Hill: 00:23 – 00:25

Daniel, what’s happening? Great to be back here, man, with my fellow Gators.

Archuleta: 00:26 – 00:28

Yeah, absolutely. Any memories walking back on campus, getting over here? 

Hill: 00:29 – 00:50

Yeah, I remember how broke I was on campus. No, seriously, man. I did not miss class. I did not miss going to class. I’m not gonna lie to you about that, but it was a lot of fun here. Just – I remember the parking being brutal, which it was today. Walking around, seeing all the kids grabbing their lunches and scrambling to classes. Man, it did bring me back. Man, it felt like it was yesterday. 

Archuleta: 00:51 – 01:03

Yeah, take me back before SFSU. You started at City College [of San Francisco], relatively later, per se, compared to most college students. So just take me back to the City College, how was it like over there?

Hill: 01:04 – 01:32

Yeah, it was a grind, right? It’s a junior college. You’re trying to take that next step, and you have to fill out your requirements, right? You have to fulfill your requirements, I should say, whether it’s general education, English, math, all that. So that’s where it really started. When I got to SF State, it really was like, “Okay, this is the icing on the cake,” but I learned a lot of fundamentals at City College in terms of newspaper writing, being an editor, public address announcing and I was able to do that and kind of hone in on my skills. 

01:32 – 01:44

So when I got here to SF State, I was ready to roll and take that next step. So yeah, it was some long nights, some long days at City College of San Francisco, and then being able to transfer here felt like, ‘Ah, okay, I’m almost there at the finish line.’

Archuleta: 01:45 – 01:56

Gotcha, I’ma mention a name that maybe you haven’t heard of, but he mentioned it to me a while back. Juan Gonzalez. What did he mean to you when you were at a city college? 

Hill: 01:57- 03:23

Yeah. Juan and I, we had our battles, but he was the guy who allowed me to freelance for them, The Guardsman, and we ended up going to a journalism convention in LA. And I was just like, “Can I come?” He was like “Yeah, sure, come along.” We took a van down, stayed at this hotel in Beverly Hills, and I ended up getting fifth place in a sports writing competition where I had only been writing for four months. 

02:23 – 02:41 

And I remember at that dinner where he kind of tipped me off that I was gonna get an award, he goes, “Look, man, I think you’re talented. You got ambition. You’re hungry. I think you should be the sports editor.” I was like, “All right, I don’t know.” I’m still trying to figure out where to put the commas and the parentheses and all that, but sure, why not? 

02:41 – 03:07

And so that gave me a purpose to say, “Okay, all right, I’ve got a title now. I’m in a position of power to kind of dictate how the sports page looks.” And he gave me full autonomy in terms of how that sports page looked. And we went from one page of sports to four pages of sports. We went from one page of black and white photos to, oh, man, we got two pages of color, it’s popping. And so we really took that sports section to the next level. 

03:07 – 03:23 

And Juan helped me do that. So yeah, he’s definitely one of the first guys to believe in my writing and to believe in my skills. And he gave me that power to basically say, “Look, man. This is your section. Do what you want to do with it, but it’s yours and I believe you could take this to the next level.” So yeah, Juan means a lot to me. There’s no doubt.

Archuleta: 03:24 – 03:26

Public address announcer for the basketball team. How did that come to be?

Hill: 03:27 – 03:54 

So they called The Guardsman, the journalism department, on a random – I think it was during the week. I don’t recall when that actual call came. But Justin Labagh, the basketball coach over at City College of San Francisco, called the journalism department and asked whether or not we had a broadcaster. I guess he was just trying to find somebody, because this was our first annual Tip-Off Classic tournament at City College of San Francisco, and I had some broadcasting chops. 

03:54 – 04:21

And so everybody said, “You should do it.” I was like, “What do I do?” Well, you just say “fourth foul on so and so. Welcome to City College.” You got to start, whatever. And so I was like, “Sure, why not?” And I remember the night before I did that tournament, I had a dream, or, I guess you could say a nightmare, that my voice gave out two minutes before I was supposed to start speaking on the microphone. And so, Tip-Off Classic starts on a Friday. 

04:21 – 04:49

I did all 12 games that weekend, and basically they were like, “You want this all year? “You’re good. We love it.” And so I did the Tip-Off Classic. I got closer to the basketball team, covered their state tournaments, and that led to me freelancing for The Examiner and writing stories about the basketball team. So yeah, it was a random call of the journalism department, and next thing you know, I’m a PA announcer for City College for about, I want to say five to six years. 

04:49 – 04:53 

And then that led me to do it a couple summers at Kezar Pavilion for the SF Pro-Am.

Archuleta: 04:54 – 04:56

Oh wow, so you were there when [Stephen] Curry played that one year?

Hill: 04:57 – 05:04

I did not announce that game, but I was definitely in the building when he lit it up. I think he missed his first eight shots, and then he went ballistic. 

Archuleta: 05:05 – 05:10

Yeah, crazy time. All right, so now jumping over to SF State, you started taking classes in the [Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts] program. What was that like for you?

Hill: 05:11 – 05:39

Oh, it was fun. It was a lot of group projects. And when you’re just studying what you love, it makes it that much easier. So you got your radio class, you have your play-by-play class, you have your sports reporting class, media aesthetics to kind of figure out different camera angles and shots and how they develop these movies with far shots, near shots, depth to shot, all that stuff, right? And I was fascinated and blown away by it. 

05:39 – 06:04

But as I was doing that, I still was able to scratch my itch in terms of journalism. I’ll still freelance in covering high school sports for San Fran Preps. And then once that fizzled out, The Examiner, the editor at the time, Dylan Cruz, of the San Francisco Examiner, said, “Hey, you want to stick around? I got a lot of odd jobs.” Whether it’s volleyball, NASCAR press conferences, IndyCar press conferences.

06:04 – 06:31

And I pitched them City College [of San Francisco]. It’s like, “Yeah, I’ll take these stories,” and I’ll never forget when they finally won a state championship for the first time since 1962, back in 2011, it was the beginning of March Madness that week. You know, when you get your brackets, everybody’s filling out their brackets with their pen and paper. Well, on the front of The Examiner was “City wins State” and Colin Schubert is making a layup for City College of San Francisco. Yeah, on the back of the paper was “March Madness begins.” 

06:31 – 06:59 

So it was kind of cool to be like, “Wow, City’s on the front page of The Examiner,” and to be able to write stories about them, the football team and then that was able to spread the College of San Mateo. I started writing stories about them and feature stories about some of their players, and so I was doing that while going into the BECA Department and honing in on my craft when it comes to radio and television. And it just felt like it was a matter of time to graduate now, again, I wanted to be a beat writer. 

06:59 – 7:02

I had no idea that BECA was going to lead me to doing more radio and more television. 

Archuleta: 07:03 – 07:06 

Staying with the BECA Program, The Three-Man Weave, talk to me about that.

Hill: 07:07 – 07:35

Yeah. The Three-Man Weave, Matt Markowitz and a buddy named Jake, right. And we started that, and we had a year, and then Jake left, didn’t know what happened to him, so he introduced this girl named Leah May, Leah Phillips, and she became that woman’s presence on our show. And I’ll never forget Jeff Jacoby, who obviously runs a radio program here at San Francisco State. He would chime in. 

07:35 – 08:00

Basically, he was there to kind of oversee all the shows, but he would jump in the chat and listen to the shows. That’s how he would kind of evaluate how we’re doing in terms of radio. I’ll never forget. He evaluated The Three-Man Weave, and after he evaluated it he goes, “I felt like I was listening to a pro radio show.” And I was like, “Wow.” He goes, “Dude, you’re gonna be fine if you want to do this.” 

08:00 – 8:26

And so we just built it right. We would throw flyers and stickers at KNBR, when I was working there, and we were consistent. Even though we would have like 13-15 people in the chat, we made it feel like it was big time. So we called him, Matt Markowitz, as Mac Daddy Matt, and he stuck with us through until he graduated, and then Leah Phillips and I ended up doing it until we graduated. 

08:26 – 08:36

So it was a time man, The Three-Man Weave. We had our own T-shirts. We had our own stickers. We had a lot of fun with that, trying to bring that to the next level on pregame guests. So that was cool. It was something to look forward to.

Archuleta: 08:37 – 08:42

Gotcha. I’m sure it did a lot for you in terms of what you’re doing now.

Hill: 08:43 – 09:10

You get confidence being able to speak into a microphone, to speak how you want to speak. You know, you get into broadcasting. You think you got to talk like Marv Albert or Bob Costas, but we all have our own voice and our own personality. And so to be able to do that, and get free studio access, and be allowed to do a live radio show. Yeah, no doubt that’s where the fundamentals really get developed, is right there in that college radio station. 

09:10 – 09:32

So I miss it. It was one of my profile pictures for a long time. And we spent a lot of time in that studio, making that show good, trying to podcast it, letting people know that we’re going on. And we had people follow us. You know, people started following us and listening, you know, our friends, whether they’re in North Carolina or Texas, they would be chiming in on the chat. So it was a lot of fun doing The Three-Man Weave.

Archuleta: 09:33 – 09:40

Nice, nice. All right. You were a Guardian Scholar here in your time at SFSU. How much did that program help you throughout your time here?

Hill: 09:41 – 10:09

I mean, I don’t think I’d get through college without the Guardian Scholars Program. You know, being able to have priority registration, early registration into classes, having my books paid for, having a meal card, to be able to eat. When I first attended SF State, all of a sudden, the Guardian Scholars Programs’ and are like, “You need pots and pans at the house? [Do] you need utensils?” 

10:09 – 10:31

So it’s safe to say that I don’t make it through college without the Guardian Scholars Program because of where my financial situation was at the time. I’m working odd jobs, checking IDs at the Bubble Lounge, freelancing for The Examiner, which was about $50 an article. Before that, it was about $25 an article for the high school website San Fran Preps. So it wasn’t like I was raking in dough.

10:31 – 10:56

Luckily, I had rent control where I lived, so my rent was relatively cheap, considering what the prices are now in San Francisco because of rent control. Yeah, without the Guardian Scholars Program having that support, even when I was struggling in classes like, “Hey, we’re gonna get you back on track. This is what you need to do. Maybe we need to lessen your load. Maybe we need to do this instead of that,” and so on and so forth. 

10:56 – 11:00

So yeah, it’s safe to say that I don’t make it through SF State and graduate with the diploma without the Guardian Scholars Program. 

Archuleta: 11:01 – 11:08

Yeah, that helps a lot, just from hearing your story and doing some background on it. It seems like it really did a lot for you.

Hill: 11:09 – 11:35

Yeah, no, it was great. Great people, great support system, friends for life. And again, you underestimate what that means to get early registration, to have a food card — because people are out here eating, you know, whether you’re eating McDonald’s or Jack in the Box, and we know it’s not the healthiest. We all have guilty pleasures but it’s not the healthiest. To have that food card and have books and to not have to worry about that. It’s yeah, it was beneficial.

Archuleta: 11:36 – 11:42

Transitioning over from being on a morning radio show to now being on primetime on TV. Talk to me about the differences between those two.

Hill: 11:43 – 12:17

Definitely a different role. Obviously, on radio, you’re going to be a lot more opinionated. You’re talking to the fans, and you know, there’s all kind of things right out there on radio. It’s fun, it’s entertainment. Television, it’s a little more buttoned up, but you can still have fun and entertain, but there’s a balance. And I’m leaning on dudes who played the game, you know, Chris Mullin, Festus Ezeli, Zena Keita, who played at Yale. You know, she’s very knowledgeable when it comes to basketball. Dorell Wright, who was with us before. So it’s a different role. 

12:17 – 12:41

And your partners with the Warriors. I don’t necessarily work for the Warriors, I work for NBC, but you’re not going to get on there on television say, “Hey, man, this team just sucked. They’re awful.” Just scream and yell. There’s a lot of casual fans who watch. There’s a lot of fans who don’t want to hear that. They want to learn, they want to be educated. And so I’m not as opinionated on television as I was on radio, where radio you could just fly off the wall. 

12:41 – 13:05

You’re going crazy. You’re arguing with your co host. We’re not doing that necessarily in television. We may disagree, but it’s a way you disagree and your tone is a little bit different. But I’m thankful for doing both, like I love the television role. Radio is a lot of fun. Who knows if I ever get back into radio, that door is not closed. We don’t know what this future holds, but it is a difference. 

13:05 – 13:25

It is a difference, and that’s why we always joke, there’s a television Bonta and there’s a radio Bonta. Radio Bonta, “Oh, man, this guy stinks. Can’t hit the backside of a barn.” Where television Bonta is like, “Hey, this guy’s going through his struggles right now. He can’t find his jump shot.” So you see the difference there. It’s a difference with your cadence, it’s a difference with your tone, it’s a difference with the words you use.

Archuleta: 13:26 – 13:52

Now, I’d be doing a disservice to myself if we didn’t start going over some of these teams that we got going on right now. So we’ll start off with the [Golden State] Warriors, given that you cover them most often. They finished 10th place again. record of 37-45, lose to the [Phoenix] Suns in the play-in tournament. We’ll hold off on the Steve Kerr decision, because we don’t know when that can come.

Hill: 13:53 – 13:58

It could come right now. What if it broke right now? I’m getting Twitter alerts. Is it going on?

Archuleta: 13:59 – 14:10

No, not at the moment. That would probably be a separate podcast. But in a season filled with lows, in your opinion, what was possibly the best moment of the 2026 Warriors season?

Hill: 14:11 – 14:31

Best moment was probably seeing Gui Santos grow as a player and become a fan favorite, three-year, $15 million extension. I know Brandin Podziemski is polarizing around here. He played really well post All-Star break, alongside Gary Payton II. But I think one of the most refreshing things was to see Gui Santos grow as a player, becoming an option. 

14:31 – 14:56 

You saw him in that play-in game against the Clippers in that fourth quarter go 3-3, seven points, couple assists, going to the basket, not afraid to shoot the three-point shot. I think that was probably the best moment in what was — let’s be honest, it was a very disappointing season. The injuries, 43 different starting lineups. Obviously, Steph missing half the season, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, we didn’t see much of him, right? 

14:57 – 15:05

Draymond Green and the turnovers? Where is he at with his jump shot? So in an overall disappointing season, I think Gui Santos was a shining light.

Archuleta: 15:06 – 15:22

Yeah, you can see it too. I mean, going back to at least the Paris Olympics, you see he has in his game where he can be obviously not the main guy on the team, but he could be the guy where he can be in the rotation and help win ball games.

Hill: 15:23 – 15:35

He’s a bargain. Three years, $15 million Daniel, come on now. If he didn’t sign that contract, and he was a free agent, he’d probably get $10-12 million a year. And I was joking, maybe he should fire his agent for signing that contract too quickly. 

Archuleta: 15:36 – 15:51

All right, switch over to the [San Francisco] Giants, coming off a winless road trip. Did not look good in [Philadelphia] and Tampa Bay. But the team has called up Bryce Eldridge, Jesus Rodriguez. After their mini skid, what do you need to see from the Giants to possibly turn their season around?

Hill: 15:52 – 16:11

Well, the offense has got to be better, that’s the disappointing part. Ryan Walker’s been bad, there’s no doubt in the ninth inning. But I think overall, the pitching has been a bright spot for this team. Now, [Adrian] Houser is getting lit up, but the group has been good for the most part. Robbie Ray’s been solid. Logan Webb has got to step it up a little bit, but you know what you’re gonna get from him. 

16:11 – 16:37

[Trevor] McDonald is a guy who’s come up in spot starts and pitched really well. It’s the offense. Willy Adames is hitting under .200, that can’t fly. Rafael Devers, not hitting for power, barely hitting over .200, that can’t fly. Being shut out seven times, being held to one run, I believe what 11 times? If I’m not mistaken. This offense, on paper, looked like it could be the most potent Giants offense.

Archuleta: 16:38 – 16:39

Since the early 2000s. 

Hill: 16:40 – 17:00

2012 maybe? Maybe those Barry Bonds-led offenses with Jeff Kent. Rich Aurilia. Yeah, on paper, it looks good, but they’ve been the biggest disappointment. And this start for the Giants has been the most disappointing start, in my opinion, since 2017 when they’re coming off that [Chicago] Cubs loss in the divisional round series and they had expectations. 

17:00 – 17:110

They go out and sign Mark Melancon because they believed that they were a closer away, and they win 68 games that year. This start has been atrocious, but it’s been the offense, in my opinion.

Archuleta: 17:11 – 17:34

Switch over now to the WNBA, [The Golden State] Valkyries, season starts May 8 versus the Seattle Storm. They welcome in Gabby [Williams]. Incredible first season, making the playoffs, ultimately losing in the first round. Questionable draft that they had, trading away Flau’jae Johnson and ultimately waving Marta Suarez. What are you looking forward to in year two?

Hill: 17:35 – 19:10

Well, how do you build off of year one, becoming the first expansion team to make the playoffs and Ballhalla was sold out every single game at Chase Center, expectations are going to be high. Most Valuable franchise now in the WNBA, their gear selling off the charts. The Flau’jae trade is very strange. And it becomes stranger because you waive Suarez, where you had a pick there, and you think about from a business standpoint, because yeah, performance matters, but business does too. 

18:08 – 18:34

Flau’jae would have sold so many jerseys in the Bay Area. Her linking up with E-40 because she is a budding rapper, right? That’s kind of her hobby. The Bay, in our community, we love our hip hop, we love our rap music. She would have been a star here. And so to allow Seattle to make that trade, a conference rival, and they’re gonna have to see Flau’jae now every single season coming down here to Chase Center in that Seattle Storm uniform. 

18:34 – 18:56

Yeah, it’s not off to a great start. So I think, yes, the expectations are high to at least get back to the playoffs, but also you have to get off to a great start to make people forget about the Flau’jae draft day trade, because if they get off to a slow start, then all of a sudden everybody on social media and the industry is gonna say, “You traded Flau’jae.” “It was the beginning of the end for the season.” So yes, expectations are high to build off of last year. 

18:56 – 19:10

Now, is it a championship? I don’t know, I wouldn’t go that far. They’re still trying to build here, but can you at least make some noise in the playoffs? We’ll see about that, but I think Valkyrie fans are definitely expecting a return trip to the playoffs.

Archuleta: 19:11 – 19:28

Lastly, the [San Francisco] 49ers, I know the draft was about a week or two ago, three picks in the top 100 starting with De’Zhaun Stribling, wide receiver out of Ole Miss with the first pick in the second round. Overall, how are you feeling about the selections the Niners took in the 2026 NFL Draft?

Hill: 19:29 – 19:56

Start off with the disappointment. I was disappointed they didn’t select a safety. I wanted the young man from Toledo [Emmanuel McNeil-Warren]. He’s a Cleveland Brown. [Treydan Stukes] from Arizona, goes to the Las Vegas Raiders, so I wanted a safety. With that said, I thought they improved their overall team speed. Stribling is a fast dude, and just because we don’t know what their draft board is doesn’t mean they made the wrong pick. 

19:57 – 20:21

You know, following these mock drafts and everybody thinks they know everything, but these guys know what they’re doing. And yeah, all draft picks are not going to pan out. Stribling is what they’re looking for to try to replace a Brandon Aiyuk. The run blocking, but more so the speed and the run after the catch. He could get that YAC. And so I think the overall team speed that they added at the linebacker position. 

20:21 – 20:41

Romello Height at defensive end, coming out of Texas Tech, is going to be a situational pass rusher. You’re banking on Mykel [Williams] to be better in year two, you’re banking on [Nick] Bosa to be Bosa. You’re banking on Alfred Collins to be better. But the young man out of Oklahoma [Gracen Halton] who’s a good [defensive tackle], I think it’s going to be solid. I think overall, they improved their team speed. 

20:41 – 21:13

Offensive line, yeah they have a certain type of offensive lineman they want. Not necessarily that we want, like Gennings Dunker, out of Iowa, young man who ended up getting drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Young man who went to Arizona, picked after Stribling, Chase Bisontis out of Texas A&M. They have a certain type, which is why you see Carver Willis, who’s a little wider, is going to move inside to the interior.

21:13 – 21:35

I thought overall it was going to be a good draft, but at the same time, as sports fans, we got to realize we’re not going to know how good these players are for a couple years. It’s the ultimate lottery ticket in the crapshoot. So to give them a grade right now, say, “Hey, they get an A, they get a B, they get an F.” I don’t know what these players are going to do. We have to wait until training camp. Will they even play on the 53? Will they be on the 53-man roster? 

21:35 – 21:55 

Will they be an impact player? You hope that they’re an impact player, and that’s what you’re looking to do, to add off a last year in which they won 12 regular season games and upset the Philadelphia Eagles in the wild card. We got to wait to see. But they believe in what they selected, they believe in that process, and they did add team speed, so Stribling can add anything. 

21:55 – 22:13

And this is the part that nobody’s talking about. Mike Evans being in that wide receiver room. How much does that benefit this guy like Stribling? Look at [Emeka] Egbuka in Tampa Bay. You don’t think Mike Evans helped him? How about Jalen McMillan out of Washington, you don’t think Mike Evans helped him? What about Chris Godwin playing the slot? You don’t think Mike Evans helped him? 

22:13 – 22:29

So having that veteran presence in that locker room, especially for a guy like Stribling and Ricky Pearsall, who they selected a couple years ago. I think that wide receiver room will be a lot better. And I think a lot of fans are going to look back at this draft and say, “Wow, maybe the 49ers did know what they were doing.”

Archuleta: 22:30 – 23:00

Yeah, it’s a good point, especially with Mike Evans, because he’s won [a championship]. He’s done all the individual accolades, and he’s won with Tampa Bay but yeah, to probably come in and possibly change the tone in that wide receiver room. DeMarcus Robinson as well, he’s sticking around. He’s gonna wear number 11, apparently. So that’ll be interesting. But yeah, it’ll be interesting to see just how it all comes together. And ultimately, injuries, gotta stay healthy.

Hill: 23:01 – 23:24

Injuries. You got to stay healthy. It’s a war of attrition and it’s prevalent in baseball, basketball. We look at the NBA Playoffs, you got to be healthy. Anthony Edwards, what’s going on with his knee? So yes, injuries are a factor. It’s why the [Boston] Celtics are done, Jayson Tatum couldn’t play game seven, so you got to stay healthy. There’s no doubt the Niners and injuries things, that’s an issue, and it’s been an issue for quite some time. 

23:24 – 23:32 

But if they could stay healthy — with the coaching staff that they have and the youth that they have and the speed that they have — they could still contend for a Super Bowl this season.

Archuleta: 23:33 – 23:42

Yeah, I agree. All right, let’s get you out of here on this one. Nice, little fun on-the-spot question. Best game you have ever attended, either as a fan or for work?

Bonta Hill: 23:43 – 24:12

Wow, somebody just asked me about this favorite moment. Let’s go with game 4, Warriors, Celtics, 2022 [NBA] Finals, Steph dropping a 43. Warriors, even up the series at two games a piece, and then obviously, a couple games later, winning that fourth championship in nine years in Boston on a parquet floor in game 6, Imma cheat here, Daniel. I’m gonna say those two games, game 4 and game 6 in Boston in the 2022 NBA Finals.

Daniel Archuleta: 24:13 – 24:16

Yeah, I want to say Shayna Rubin had the same game as you.

Hill: 24:16 – 24:17 

Really?

Archuleta: 24:17 – 24:25

Interesting, really, yeah. But, I mean, it just goes to show the impact that game really had on not just the fans, but even those that worked it.

Hill: 24:26 – 24:39

She’s covered some big time Giants games. Yeah, Shayna, she’s the Giants beat writer for The [San Francisco] Chronicle. Come on, Shayna, stay in your lane over there. Let me have the basketball stuff. But there’s been some great moments. So, I mean, those two right there stick out to me. There’s no doubt. 

Outro

Archuleta: 24:40 -24:42

Bonta Hill, thank you for your time, man.

Hill: 24:43-24:44

Anytime Daniel. Go Gators!