Peace & Love: Remembering Lew Hill

Peace & Love

UTRGV Athletics was shocked and saddened when men’s basketball head coach Lew Hill passed away on Feb. 7, 2021 at the age of 55. Hill coached the Vaqueros in a 77-75 loss to Texas Southern in Houston the previous night. Hill was the head coach at UTRGV for five seasons, taking over the program in 2016 and making fivewin improvements in each of his first three years, culminating with a 20-win 2018-19 season that saw the Vaqueros win an NCAA DI postseason game for the first time while hosting two rounds of the CIT. For his efforts, Hill was a finalist for CollegeInsider.com’s Ben Jobe Award, presented annually to the top minority coach in Division I men’s basketball. In total, the Vaqueros made the postseason twice under Hill, including the 2018 CBI. Hill’s teams never quit, rallying back from seven double-digit deficits in 201819 and then, after starting the 2019-20 season 6-14, winning eight of their final 10 to earn the No. 2 seed in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, the highest seed in program history. The Vaqueros picked up right where they left off in 2020-21, going 8-4 under Hill. In total, the Vaqueros won 16 of Hill’s final 22 games. For his head coaching career, Hill won 67 games, the fifth-best total in program history. Hill was honored with the 2021 WAC Coach of the Year Award and was a finalist for CollegeInsider.com’s Ben Jobe Award and Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award, the latter of which is given annually to those who not only achieve success on the basketball court but who display moral integrity off the floor as well. Beyond basketball, Hill was passionate about bringing awareness to diabetes, personally leading the charge to host diabetes awareness nights at home basketball games. He also believed greatly in giving back to the campus and the community. Hill was known for buying large amounts of breakfast tacos and walking to faculty and staff offices around campus to deliver breakfast and thank his fellow UTRGV employees for their hard work and dedication. When UTRGV Athletics started a weekly story time series this past spring, Hill was the first employee to sign up, reading The Dinosaur Who Lived in My Back Yard with his daughter, Elle. Hill often spoke out on issues of social justice, speaking to multiple media outlets in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and again about the NBA and WNBA canceling games following the shooting of Jacob Blake. Hill was also a key part of round table discussions with The Monitor and Vaquero Radio as well as a healing circle that was open to all of campus. Hill is survived by his wife, Renee, their two children, Lewis Jr. (LJ) and Elle, and three other daughters, Sierra, Erica and Asya. In lieu of flowers, the Hill family asked for donations to the Lew Hill Memorial Fund. The community responded in a big way, as the fund reached endowment status in June. The Hill family directed the funds to create a yearly scholarship in Coach Hill’s name.