PU grad a member of coaching staff
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Armond Hill played on the Princeton University men’s basketball team that shocked the country when it won the National Invitation Tournament in 1975.
Thirty-three years later, Hill had a hand in another significant championship, this one as a coach. Hill is an assistant coach to Doc Rivers with the Boston Celtics, who captured the NBA Championship last Tuesday with a 131-92 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. It was Boston’s 17th overall, but first in 22 years.
”When you play the game of basketball and get to that level in the NBA, to win a championship, it’s up there,” Hill said. “When you think back to all my basketball experiences, good and bad, winning the NIT was as exciting. This is just at a different level.”
It was just the latest triumph for the unassuming Hill, who has enjoyed success as both a player and coach and hasn’t forgotten any of his steps along the way to an NBA title.
”I don’t have anything to complain about,” said Hill, the 1976 Ivy League Player of the Year who went on to average 6.9 points and 4.3 assists per game in eight NBA seasons. “The road that I took and the process, good and bad, has been all worth it.”
He played a major role in the Tigers’ trek to the NIT championship. He was named All-Ivy League after averaging 14.6 points per game. He hit the winning free throws and blocked the attempted game-winner in a 58-57 win over Oregon in the NIT semifinals. He led the team in rebounding in the 80-69 win over Providence in the NIT championship.
One year later, as co-captain of the Tigers for the second season, Hill was named All-East for a second straight year and added the Player of the Year honors, the first player from Princeton to win the new award. He was the ninth pick in the NBA draft and played six seasons with the Atlanta Hawks and two more total with the Seattle Supersonics, San Diego Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks. The Hawks twice made the Eastern Conference semifinals.
After finishing his degree at Princeton, he took his first coaching job as an assistant coach at The Lawrenceville School, from where he had graduated before coming to Princeton University.
”It started with Jim Waugh,” Hill recalled. “He was a teacher at Lawrenceville. He’s the first guy that brought me into coaching and asked me to assist him. It started at prep school. Then Coach Carril asked me to come help him coach.
”But Coachy — that’s what we called Coach Waugh — he started it. I still talk to him. I talked to him the other day and he says, Armond, I got you in this mess.”
Hill eventually took over for Waugh as head coach, and after winning the prep state title, returned to Princeton as an assistant to Pete Carril in 1991 and helped the Tigers win an Ivy title in 1992. Carril, too, was quick to congratulate Hill on his role with the Celtics.
”I talked to him (Friday),” Hill said. “He was just commenting on how much he enjoyed watching our defense. He saw some things in our offense that he obviously recognized. He was very, very happy for it. He gave me a heartfelt congratulations. Coming from a guy that taught me everything, it means a lot.”
After four years under Carril, Hill took the reins at Columbia as head coach. He was let go after eight seasons, but Terry Stotts asked him to join his Hawks staff as an assistant. It got Hill into the NBA as a coach for the first time.
”Terry gave me the opportunity to start coaching at the professional level,” Hill said. “I called him and thanked him too. Without him, this championship wouldn’t have happened for me.”
The next year, Hill got a call from Rivers, a former teammate with the Hawks. He joined a Celtics team that was struggling to return to its glory days. Last year, they went 24-58, second-worst in the NBA, including a 18-game losing streak that was a franchise record.
”I had faith in Doc,” Hill said, “and surprisingly he is the same guy, he coaches the same way as he did last year when we lost 18 in a row. It was a hell of a down time. Doc always found something positive to say. When you’re coaching this group of talented players, he always had something positive to say.
”I came with him when he first got there. You could see his vision of building and Danny Ainge’s. The young players got good enough and better for the trades to work. It was good to trust in him.”
Rivers gave Hill credit for working with the Celtics offense this season. Boston was aided by the trades for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
”To quote Doc, when we made these trades for Kevin and Ray, when we draw up a play, it’ll look a lot better,” Hill said. “They understand when we draw up a play, they understand timing and spacing and the spacing of a play. With the veterans, it’s a little different. There’s always a weapon or threat.
”Doc is really the genius of the offense. I second whatever he’s saying or try to add something. It’s a great working relationship. The plays work because you have talent. If you don’t have the right talent, I don’t care what you draw up. I learned that from Coach Carril.”
This year, the Celtics won 66 regular-season games. It was the largest turnaround in NBA history. It also topped off quite a climb for Hill, who has coached for 18 seasons at every level.
”When you go back and start coaching in high school, you start teaching the fundamentals,” he said. “Every level that you go up, it’s the (best) guys that have fundamentals. It’s not different at high school and this level. Guys more fundamentally sound can do more things at this level.”
The Celtics did it all this season in one of the most rewarding experiences of Hill’s career. The culmination came last week when Boston beat L.A. in six games.
”It really sunk in on the day of the parade,” Hill said. “I thought the people of Boston really made it an experience to remember. That’s when it really sunk in we were the champions.”
A champion again, just as Armond Hill had been at Princeton University before.