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Lon Kruger: Lew Hill was 'the best of all we could want in our leaders'

College basketball world mourns after UTRGV head coach and former Sooners assistant  passed away unexpectedly Sunday morning
John E. Hoover|
Lon Kruger: Lew Hill was 'the best of all we could want in our leaders'
Lon Kruger: Lew Hill was 'the best of all we could want in our leaders'

In a statement release by the university on Monday, Oklahoma basketball coach Lon Kruger said former OU assistant coach Lew Hill “represented the best of all we could want in our leaders.”

Hill, 55, died in his sleep early Sunday morning, according to Stadium college basketball insider Jeff Goodman.

“Our world lost a special person with the passing of Lew Hill,” Kruger said. “A terrific basketball coach and a much better husband, father and friend. Lew represented the best of all we could want in our leaders and anyone working with young people in any walk. All who knew Lew are comforted by the many wonderful and loving memories. We are heartbroken for Renee, L.J. and Ellie. Our thoughts and prayers are with Lew’s entire family.”

Hill, who has coached at UT-Rio Grande Valley the last five years and was reportedly set to step down after this season, coached with Kruger at UNLV and at Oklahoma, and was one of Kruger’s key aides during the Sooners’ 2016 run to the Final Four.

On Sunday night, an outpouring of sadness and support flowed on social media.

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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