Sam Morris / Las Vegas Sun
UNLV basketball head coach Lon Kruger and assistant Lew Hill watch the Rebels during their exhibition game against Washburn at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Monday, Feb. 8, 2021 | 9:49 a.m.
Lew Hill had a certain way of looking out for his basketball players. For UNLV’s Curtis Terry, that meant frequent phone calls to mom.
“The impact he had on me at UNLV is immeasurable. He’d call my mom weekly just to check-in & report back on me. Until next time, Sweet Lew...love you Coach!,” Terry posted on Twitter.
Hill, an assistant coach on Lon Kruger’s UNLV staff from 2004 to 2011, unexpectedly died on Sunday. He was 55.
Hill was the head coach at Texas Rio Grande Valley, coaching in the Vaqueros’ game Saturday against Texas Southern.
“Words cannot describe how any of us feel right now. Everyone in our department is devastated by this news,” Rio Grande Valley athletic director Chasse Conque said. “Coach Hill was an incredible human being. He was my close friend and a trusted colleague.”
Similar sentiments were shared by those associated with the UNLV program.
Todd Simon got his break into college coaching in 2004 as the UNLV video assistant. He would eventually become the program’s interim head coach.
“Can’t and don’t want to believe it. Rest In Peace Coach Hill. We all have guys that give you a hand up when you’re breaking into coaching...Lew was so good to me,” Simon, the current Southern Utah coach, posted on Twitter.
Hill left UNLV in 2011 when Kruger was hired at Oklahoma. He was part of Kruger’s staff for 11 seasons at UNLV and Oklahoma, including helping the Sooners reach the 2016 Final Four. The Rebels of 2007 reached the Sweet 16 — the first NCAA Tournament wins for the program since the 1990 national championship season.
Hill was in his fifth season at Texas Rio Grande Valley. The school said the cause of death was not known and didn’t provide any other details.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
