May 5, 2008
ATLANTA – Gene Hill, associate head coach at Butler University for the past two seasons, has been named an assistant coach for the Georgia Tech women’s basketball program, head coach MaChelle Joseph announced Monday.
“We are excited about the addition of Gene Hill to our staff,” Joseph said. “Gene has been very successful the past six years heading up the recruiting and the resurgence of Butler women’s basketball and will serve as our recruiting coordinator at Georgia Tech. Gene has had tremendous experience as the head coach of USC Spartanburg and as the associate head coach at Butler.”
Hill recently completed his sixth season on the Butler women’s basketball staff and his second year as associate head coach. He served as the Bulldogs’ recruiting coordinator and assisted with on-court coaching.
“People who really know me well know that coaching at Georgia Tech has always been a dream of mine,” Hill said. “It is great to be moving to Atlanta, working in the Atlantic Coast Conference and especially to get to work with MaChelle. She has helped Tech make huge strides in her five years as head coach and I just look forward to the opportunity of helping her take the program even further.”
Hill joined Coach Beth Couture’s first Butler staff in 2002 after serving as the interim head women’s basketball coach at East Carolina University during the 2001-02 season.
The Bulldogs’ recent resurgence to the upper tier of the Horizon League has been due in large part to the talent that Hill has accumulated at Butler. His first recruiting class included Jackie Closser and Ellen Hamilton, two players scored 1,000 points in their Butler careers. Additionally, the Bulldogs landed at least one player on the Horizon League’s All-Newcomer Team in each of Hill’s four years as recruiting coordinator, including Hamilton in 2004, Cassie Freeman in 2005, Lade Akande in 2006 and Susan Lester in 2007.
A tireless recruiter, Hill established relationships within the Indiana basketball community, as 15 of the 23 players signed by Butler during Hill’s tenure have Hoosier State ties. However, he has shown the ability to sign some of the Midwest’s best talent, landing all-state players from Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio.
Prior to his stint at East Carolina, Hill was the head women’s basketball coach at South Carolina Spartanburg from 1999-01. While in Spartanburg, he recruited three USA Today Honorable Mention All-Americans and the 2000-01 Peach Belt Conference Freshman of the Year.
From 1997-99, Hill served as an assistant women’s basketball coach at Lander (S.C.) University, where he helped lead the Bearcats to their first Peach Belt Conference Tournament championship and earned an NCAA Division II Tournament bid.
Hill graduated from Coker (S.C.) College with a degree in physical education in 1997.
While at Coker, Hill played for the Cobras’ basketball team for one season and also served as the assistant women’s basketball coach for three seasons.
This past spring, Hill was invited to attend The Villa 7 Consortium in Beaverton, Oregon, a group of women’s basketball assistant coaches who are considered to be the next generation of rising head coaches in the country.
– RamblinWreck.com –
