UTRGV honors Coach Lew Hill’s lasting legacy of peace and love
EDINBURG — Lew Hill was named head coach of the UTRGV Vaqueros men’s basketball team on March 31, 2016.
It didn’t take long for the kid from Money Earnin’ Mount Vernon, New York to rebuild the program into one on the rise, filled with promise and potential. Under his direction in 2018-19, UTRGV finished with its first winning-season in 11 years and recorded its first-ever DI postseason win.
On Feb. 7, 2021, Hill tragically passed away after a private health battle, just one day after coaching the Vaqueros in what would be his final game.
Throughout his time in the Rio Grande Valley and long before that, Hill poured peace and love into everything he did and everywhere he went, from the way he lived to the way he coached.
His legacy lives on at UTRGV, and now, it’s forever etched in stone near the same sidelines he used to roam.
On Wednesday, UTRGV unveiled the Lew Hill Memorial Plaza outside of the UTRGV Fieldhouse as Hill’s wife, Renee, their children Lew Jr. (LJ) and Elle, and family, friends and supporters were there to celebrate the legacy of the man nicknamed “Sweet Lew”.
“This started out as a little seed in February of 2021, and I kept thinking to myself, ‘Who am I to ask for something so grand?’ You know, he's just a kid from Mount Vernon, New York, like, this is not gonna happen on a DI campus, and God was whispering in one ear and Lewis was whispering in the other ear to keep pressing forward,” Renee said. “Super emotional day, but super thankful, and we did not get here by ourselves. It's a ton of people that helped make this happen, but definitely God first. It's been a long four years to make this happen.”
Hill’s impact on UTRGV and the Rio Grande Valley extends off the court, as well. He was like a father-figure to many of his players.
“Peace and love — that was Coach Hill’s message every day. That’s what he lived by, that’s how he carried himself,” UTRGV vice president and athletic director Chasse Conque said. “Coach meant so much to so many on a personal level. Even those that didn’t know him, he carried himself in a way that you just looked at him and you just knew that was one of those guys you wanted to get to know, one of those guys you thought you could be friends with. He loved his student-athletes, he was a mentor to so many of them, respected the game, but it was more than just a game for Coach Hill.”
Renee was seated in the front row for the unveiling alongside LJ, Elle, and her best friend from New York, who she didn’t know was coming. Current UTRGV head coaches shared their experiences with Coach Lew Hill and all shared the same sentiment — that he left things better than he found them.
“It made me feel like he always kept it consistent,” Renee said. “I’m biased, so of course I’m going to feel that way about my husband. It was nice to hear other people have those same emotions and feelings about him, because one thing for sure, he is about peace and love, no matter what the situation is.”
One of Coach Hill’s greatest influences, former Texas-Pan American and Oklahoma head basketball coach Lon Kruger, played a pivotal role in making the Lew Hill Memorial Plaza a reality. Hill worked as an assistant under Kruger at UNLV from 2004-2011 and Oklahoma from 2011-2016. Kruger also helped connect UTRGV with Hill when the Vaqueros were searching for a new men’s head basketball coach in 2016.
In August 2022, Kruger and his wife, Barbara, announced a six-figure gift to dedicate the Lew Hill Memorial Plaza as part of renovations to the UTRGV Fieldhouse. They were on-hand Wednesday for the unveiling.
“The name that goes on the plaza today is the name of a really, really good guy,” Kruger said about Hill. “There’s not many so genuine and so caring about others. Lew loved basketball, but his genius was being able to take that love for the game and affect the lives of hundreds and hundreds of young people. He was about the preparation of these young men for life after basketball, to be good husbands and fathers and contributors to society. Such a good person who wanted others to gravitate around you because of your smile and your energy and your positivity. Lew not only preached that, but he did it.”
On the court, Hill will be remembered as a great coach. Off the court, his impact as a husband, father and son lives on. If you asked him, however, Coach Lew Hill would likely want his skills on the microphone to be included in there somewhere.
“Well, he would answer that question and say he's a singer,” Renee said with a smile. “ I think our family would challenge that, but definitely a kind and loving human being, and that's the aspect I want people to understand. A lot of people do only know him as Coach Hill, but outside of that, there's a whole other side to him or he's super compassionate, super loving. God picked the most amazing husband for me, for sure, and for that, I'm thankful.”
