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ST. PETERSBURG — T.Y. Hilton sat on his bed with two hats, a coveted high school senior unable to choose between them.
West Virginia was fresh off an 11-2 season and a Fiesta Bowl win against Oklahoma. Florida International was coming off a 1-11 season at the bottom of the Sun Belt Conference. And yet Hilton liked the hometown Panthers enough that he left the tiebreaker to his infant son, Eugene, who was decisive in reaching out for the FIU ballcap eight times in a row.
It's a bit more personal than a coin flip, and Hilton likes the instincts his son showed him in keeping his father close to home.
"These four years have been incredible," Hilton said Saturday, preparing for his final college game as FIU takes on Marshall tonight in the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl at Tropicana Field. "The teammates I've played with, the team I have now, we have a great bond together."
Hilton has been electric since his first touch at FIU — when he took a punt return 74 yards for a touchdown against Kansas — and has made his mark as both a receiver and return specialist. He has helped the Panthers to historic wins, like in September, when he caught touchdowns of 74 and 83 yards in a 201-yard game as FIU upset Louisville.
The 5-foot-11 senior from Miami Springs is the kind of singular recruiting coup capable of elevating a program.
"That was a win over some of the bigger schools in America," coach Mario Cristobal said. "It's a tribute to him wanting to be a guy that sets his own footprints and doesn't follow anybody else's footsteps. It's a tribute to him for believing in his hometown to start a Division I program and needing a guy to be the face of the program. That's a lot for a 17- or 18-year-old to put on his shoulders."
Marshall coach Doc Holliday knows Hilton's talent all too well. He had recruited him while at Florida in 2007, then joined West Virginia's staff in January 2008 with the hope of landing him there. He was essentially wearing the hat that Hilton's infant son wouldn't reach for, again and again.
"We were extremely interested in him," Holliday said Monday.
Hilton ranks third in the NCAA in kickoff returns, averaging 32 yards despite not getting a touchdown this season. His last kickoff-return score was in last year's bowl win against Toledo.
"I've been very close every game. It's that one extra block, staying on your man that one extra second that I need," Hilton said. "I keep getting caught, but we've been very close. We've worked hard on that all week and with that turf, I should be extra fast."
The "T.Y." is a nod to his father, whose name is Tyrone. His given name is Eugene Marquis Hilton, which he passed onto his son, now 4. He'll graduate in the spring and has accepted an invitation to play in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., next month, with the hopes of improving his stock in the NFL draft.
FIU has radically changed in his four years, reaching and winning its first bowl game last year after a Sun Belt championship. Now Cristobal is coveted enough that he, too, could be in his last game with the Panthers; he reportedly is a top candidate to become coach at Pittsburgh.
He can appreciate how far the program has come in the past four years and how big a role Hilton has played in that.
"He's not only played and been a leader, but he was a pied piper," Cristobal said. "The recruiting really changed for FIU football. … He's made the FIU brand something recognizable for so many positive things. He's a guy we're going to miss tremendously, but we have him for one more game. We hope he can continue to leave a legacy."
Greg Auman can be reached at auman@tampabay.com and at (813) 226-3346.
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