Northern Colorado didn’t waste any time filling its men’s basketball vacancy. Just as Tad Boyle was finishing up his first news conference at Colorado, UNC introduced B.J. Hill as Boyle’s replacement Monday evening.
“This is an unbelievable opportunity,” Hill said. “I want to thank (athletic director) Jay Hinrichs, President (Kay) Norton and everybody involved who believed in me. I also want to thank Tad Boyle. I’m extremely excited, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to carry on what Coach (Boyle) started and carrying it on to the next level.”
Hill, 36, has coached five years at UNC under Boyle. He spent his first two seasons as an assistant, and the past three years as an associate coach. Prior to coming to Greeley, Hill worked was an assistant at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa.
Before his time at Indian Hills, Hill coached five seasons at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, working with head coach Jay Herkelman. In Hill’s tenure, the Red Ravens won five consecutive Jayhawk East Conference titles and three consecutive Region VI championships and had a combined record of 146-33 (.816 winning percentage) and advanced to the 2002 NJCAA National Championship game.
Hill spent the 1999-2000 season at South Dakota State University, where he helped the Jackrabbits to the NCAA Division II national tournament and a 21-9 overall record.
Hill was an assistant coach at Independence Community College during the 1998-99 season, helping the team to a 22-10 record and second-place finish in the Jayhawk East Conference. He started coaching during the 1997-98 season at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) in Mason City, Iowa, where he was a standout player in the early ’90s.
A native of Cedar Hills, Iowa, Hill played basketball at NIACC and at Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Grand View in 1996 and his master’s degree in athletic administration from South Dakota State in 2001.
Hill and his wife Eliza have a son, Nathan, and a daughter, Alana.
