Robert W. Hill''The Sporting News: 1992-93 Official NBA Register''.

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

: The Sporting News Publishing Co. 1992. (born November 24, 1948) is an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

coach. Hill grew up in

Mount Sterling, Ohio Mount Sterling is a village in Madison County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,782 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Columbus, Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Mount Sterling is located at (39.719528, -83.267999) ...

, moving to

Worthington, Ohio Worthington is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, and is a northern suburb of Columbus. The population in the 2020 Census was 14,786. The city was founded in 1803 by the Scioto Company led by James Kilbourne, who was later elected to ...

for high school. Hill attended

Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...

Career

College

Hill played basketball and baseball collegiately at

and was also a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He attended the school during a time when college players were not eligible to join the varsity squad until their sophomore seasons; although statistics indicated he showed tremendous promise as a member of the freshman team, his success never really translated over to his tenure as a member of the varsity team. He then became interested in coaching.

Early coaching career

Hill was an assistant coach for the

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a mem ...

from 1979 to 1985.

As NBA coach

As an assistant

Hill was an assistant with

Hubie Brown Hubert Jude Brown (born September 25, 1933) is an American retired basketball coach and player and a current television analyst. Brown is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, the honors being separated by 26 years. Brown was inducted into the Naism ...

and the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

for the 1985–86 season. The following season, Brown was fired after a 4–12 start and Hill became Head Coach on December 1, 1986. He would finish out that season with the Knicks and then became an assistant for the Pacers under

Dick Versace Richard Patrick Versace (April 16, 1940 – February 25, 2022) was an American basketball coach and executive. He was also the first American of Puerto Rican descent to have coached a National Basketball Association (NBA) team. Early life Versace ...

in 1989.

Indiana Pacers

On December 20, 1990, Hill was promoted to head coach of the Pacers after Versace's firing. He spent three seasons as the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

' head coach (1990–93). He led the Pacers to the NBA playoffs.

San Antonio Spurs

After being fired by the Pacers and being an assistant coach for the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

for a season, Hill piloted the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference Southwest Division ( ...

to an NBA-best 62 wins in 1994–95 before losing to the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

in the Western Conference finals. After a 3–15 start to the 1996–97 season, Hill was fired by one of his bosses,

Gregg Popovich Gregg Charles Popovich (born January 28, 1949) is an American professional basketball coach and executive who is the president and head coach of the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Taking over as coach of the Spur ...

, who thereafter replaced Hill as the Spurs coach. Hill's firing at the time was puzzling to some and deeply angered Hill, considering his previous success and the fact that the poor start to the season was due in large part to injuries to

David Robinson David Maurice Robinson (born August 6, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the San Antonio Spurs in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1989 to 2003, and minority owner of the Spurs. Nicknamed ...

and

Sean Elliott Sean Michael Elliott (born February 2, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who starred at small forward in both the college and professional ranks. He attended the University of Arizona, where he had a standout career as ...

, the team's two best players. Under Popovich, the Spurs proceeded to win five NBA titles in the next two decades.

At Fordham University

Between 1999 and 2003, Hill was head coach at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

where he compiled a 36–78 record (31.6% winning %). He was let go by the Rams following the 2002–03 season after only 1 win in the

Atlantic 10 The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

. The Rams finished 2–26 in 2003, the worst record in school history. Fordham paid Hill $650,000 to leave the university in a buyout agreement four years into his 10-year deal. Hill took responsibility for his rocky four-year tenure at Fordham. "Fordham was my fault; I just shouldn't have done it," Hill told the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

''. "I don't want to get into why," he added, "just blame it on me." "I guess the best way to put it (is), I've had a really privileged career," Hill said, "I've been around a lot of great organizations; I've had a lot of great players. I've always had success to some degree, so I feel like I understand what it takes to do that and it just didn't work." Asked to recount some of the missteps he made during his tenure at Fordham, Hill said that he made a mistake before the 2002–03 season in trying to bring in playground players such as

Adrian Walton Adrian Walton is an American basketball player. Initially a streetball player known as "Hollywood", he was considered to be one of the last great streetball players. Walton attended Graphic Arts High School and later Milford Academy. He played ...

and

Smush Parker William Henry "Smush" Parker (born June 1, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA), the NBA D-League and several leagues overseas. Parker played shooting guard in college ...

. "We tried to bring the Rucker League to Fordham and it didn't work out," Hill said. Hill added he didn't have any regrets about his time in the Bronx. "It's a good school, good people, the whole thing, but I made a mistake," Hill said. "I don't really regret it," he added. "I've learned so much about what those young guys go through to try to be successful. It's hard for them."

Return to NBA

Seattle SuperSonics

On January 3, 2006, Hill replaced

Bob Weiss Robert William Weiss (born May 7, 1942) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. College career Weiss played college basketball at Penn State University from 1963 to 1965 and averaged 16.3 points per game during his senior ...

as head coach of the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

, after a lackluster 13–17 start to the 2005–06 season; he had most recently served as assistant coach for the team. He was fired over the phone as Sonics head coach on April 24, 2007, after their penultimate season in Seattle, after which they became the

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team plays i ...

. He holds a career win–loss NBA coaching record of 310–293.

Phoenix Suns

On February 1, 2016, it was announced that Hill would be the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

' newest assistant head coach for the rest of the 2015–16 season after it was announced that the Suns would fire

Jeff Hornacek Jeffrey John Hornacek (; born May 3, 1963) is an American professional basketball coach and a former player who is a coaching consultant for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously was the head coach for both the ...

as their head coach and replace him for the season with his former player under the

Earl Watson Earl Joseph Watson Jr. (born June 12, 1979) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the UCLA ...

. After his contract for 2016 expired, it was announced that the contracts for both Hill and

Corey Gaines Corey Yasuto Gaines (born June 1, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player. He played five seasons in the NBA, and was a four-time Israeli Premier League Assists Leader, in 1999 and in 2001 to 2003. He was also a forme ...

would not be renewed with the team.

International experience

During the summer of 2011, Hill was invited by

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

to help the Taiwan men's basketball team as a consultant. He also has coached the

Tokyo Apache Tokyo Apache (東京アパッチ) was a Japanese basketball club, based in the city of Tokyo, Kantō Region. They played in the bj league, the top-level Japanese professional League. Their home games were played at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium II ...

of the Japanese bj league. Most recently, Hill was the assistant coach of the Ukrainian national team at the 2014 FIBA World Cup and the 2015 Euroleague.

Personal life

Hill has three sons with his wife Pam. The oldest, Cameron, is currently the head women's basketball coach at Trinity University in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

and is the owner of CHB, specializing in player development and team training. His second son, Chris, is the head basketball coach at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, and his youngest, Casey, is an assistant for the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

New Orleans Pelicans The New Orleans Pelicans are an American professional basketball team based in New Orleans. The Pelicans compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division and play their hom ...

Head coaching record

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

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Books

*''Basketball: Coaching for Success'' (2000)

References

External links

NBA.com profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Bob 1948 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Japan American expatriate basketball people in Ukraine American men's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Ohio Bowling Green Falcons men's basketball coaches Bowling Green Falcons men's basketball players College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Fordham Rams men's basketball coaches Indiana Pacers assistant coaches Indiana Pacers head coaches Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball coaches New York Knicks assistant coaches New York Knicks head coaches Orlando Magic assistant coaches People from Worthington, Ohio Phoenix Suns assistant coaches Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball coaches San Antonio Spurs head coaches Seattle SuperSonics head coaches Sportspeople from Columbus, Ohio Tokyo Apache coaches Virtus Bologna coaches American men's basketball players Basketball players from Columbus, Ohio