Texas-Rio Grande Valley still mourns death of coach Lew Hill

It’s been a trying season for college basketball teams, but there is truly no playbook for what Texas-Rio Grande Valley has been through.

On Feb. 6, Lew Hill coached the Vaqueros in a 77-75 last-second loss to Texas Southern. He died in his sleep the next morning at age 55.

Rio Grande Valley was 8-4 overall and 2-0 in the Western Athletic Conference at the time of Hill’s death. After taking off a couple of weeks to mourn their loss, the Vaqueros dominated Dallas Christian 116-51 on Feb. 21. But they arrive in Las Vegas for the conference tournament as the No. 6 seed and on a five-game losing streak.

“It’s definitely been tough since Coach’s passing. That’s just a healing process,” interim coach Jai Steadman said. “That’s our leader.”

The Vaqueros (9-9) will meet third-seeded New Mexico State (10-7) at 8 p.m. Thursday at Orleans Arena in the quarterfinals.

The No. 1 seed in the men’s bracket is Grand Canyon, and California Baptist is the women’s top seed. The championship games will be played Saturday, with the women tipping off at 2 p.m. and the men at 7.

“We’re staying together and helping each other get through,” Rio Grande Valley guard Javon Levi said. “We’re taking it day by day. That’s all we can do is stay side by side and know we have somebody on our left and right that we can lean on.”

Hill, an assistant coach at UNLV from 2004 to 2011, had been the Rio Grande Valley coach for five seasons and had spoken of a five-year plan that he hoped would end with a WAC championship.

The Vaqueros had a chance to bring that plan to fruition a year early, but COVID-19 shut down the WAC tournament last year on the day they were scheduled to begin play as the No. 2 seed.

Hill’s cause of death has not been released, but he was diagnosed in January with a rare bone marrow disorder that causes organs to thicken and lose function. It was determined to be the cause of chronic fatigue Hill had experienced in the past year. The program had also been shut down for 10 days in late January after Hill tested positive for COVID-19.

Hill called Rio Grande Valley athletic director Chasse Conque after the Texas Southern game and told him he was going to leave the team and begin treatment for his disorder.

Sean Rhea, Rio Grande Valley’s leading scorer, had 19 points in the win over Dallas Christian and spoke at a memorial for Hill on Feb. 23.

“He’s the captain of this ship,” Rhea said at the memorial. “He’s always going to be the captain.”

Days later, Rhea left the program and entered the transfer portal, with Steadman saying Rhea told him it was “too much and he decided he needed to go home.”

Without Rhea, the Vaqueros have struggled to “put the orange thing in the orange thing,” Steadman said, recalling one of Hill’s favorite sayings. They have averaged 58.8 points in the past five games.

“We’re just focusing on how we were when Coach Hill was here and remembering all the things he taught us and applying that, how it always is when you lose somebody who meant so much,” forward Marek Nelson said.

“You remember the things they taught you and try to apply those things and carry on that legacy, and we’re still working on that. That’s going to take some time, but we’ll figure it out. I’m confident in our guys. I’m confident in our coaches.”

Contact Jason Orts at jorts@reviewjournal.com. Follow @SportsWithOrts on Twitter.