Lew Hill

Lew Hill (1964/5-2021)

Teams coached: UTRGV Vaqueros
UTRGV record: 66-77 (.465)
Overall record: 66-77 (.465)

Career Accomplishments:

  • NCAA National Championships:  0
  • NCAA Tournament Appearances:  0
  • NIT Championships:  0
  • NIT Appearances:  0
  • CBI Appearances:  1  (2018)
  • CIT Appearances:  1  (2019)

Awards:

Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):

2016-2021 UTRGV
2011-2016 Oklahoma (asst)
2004-2011 UNLV (asst)
2003-2004 Texas A&M (assoc. HC)
1998-2003 Texas A&M (asst)
1994-1998 East Carolina (asst)
1992-1994 Southeast Missouri State (asst)
1990-1992 South Alabama (asst)

Lew Hill Facts

  • Lew Hill
  • Born 1964 or 1965
  • Died February 7, 2021
  • Hometown: Mount Vernon, New York
  • Alma Mater: Wichita State University (BS, 1988)
  • Started his college career at San Jacinto JC (CA), where he earned All-American honors en route to a JC National Championship
    • Played two seasons at Wichita State under head coach Eddie Fogler, earning All-Missouri Valley honors as a senior in 1988
    • Spent one year playing professionally in Germany before returning to Kansas to serve as an assistant at Wichita East HS
  • First collegiate jobs were as an assistant at South Alabama under Ronnie Arrow and SE Missouri State under Ron Shumate
  • Joined Eddie Payne‘s staff at East Carolina in 1994; stayed with the Pirates from 1995-98 under Payne’s successor, Joe Dooley
  • Moved on to Texas A&M in 1998, spending the next six seasons working for the Aggies under head coach Melvin Watkins
  • When Watkins resigned in 2004, Hill moved out West to work at UNLV under head coach Lon Kruger
    • After seven seasons at UNLV, Hill followed Kruger to Oklahoma to work as a Sooners assistant for five years
  • Hired in March 2016 to be the head coach of the UTRGV Vaqueros of the WAC; UTRGV had been formed in 2015 via a merger of UT-Brownsville and UT-Pan American, inheriting the WAC membership and athletic history of the latter
    • Led the Vaqueros to the CBI in 2018 and the CIT in 2019; was 67-77 overall during his tenure at UTRGV
  • Hill passed away unexpectedly on February 7, 2021 at age 55 after battling COVID-19; coached his final game the night before in Houston
    • Survived by his wife, Renee, their two children, Lewis Jr. (LJ) and Elle, and three other daughters, Sierra, Erica and Asya
    • Hill was posthumously named WAC Coach of the Year in a unanimous vote; he was also recognized nationally as the 2021 Skip Prosser Man of the Year, given to coaches who achieve success on the court but display moral integrity off of the court, as well

Lew Hill Coaching Tree