RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Department of Intercollegiate Athletics unveiled the new atrium and Lew Hill Memorial Plaza at the UTRGV Fieldhouse, part of over $180 million in construction, renovations, and enhancements affecting all 18 UTRGV sports programs across 13 capital projects, to the public with a press conference followed by access to the facility on Wednesday.
 
The atrium stands 27 feet high and provides an additional 13,000 square feet of additional space for the UTRGV Fieldhouse. 
 
The atrium includes a new entrance for fans attending basketball and volleyball games through the Lew Hill Memorial Plaza. The atrium features a new box office, team store, concession stand, Hall of Fame and Hall of Honor area, and restrooms.
 
Fans also have the opportunity to enjoy a new, unique way to watch the games from the baseline club. Fans interested in purchasing baseline club seating can sign up at  GoUTRGV.com/Baseline. UTRGV Athletics will contact fans on the wait list based on Vaqueros Loyalty Points ranking. 
 
The atrium will be used for a game for the first time on Nov. 3 when the women's basketball team hosts St. Mary's. 
 
"The opening of the atrium has been long awaited by many of our fans, coaches and student-athletes, but also we're here to honor a very special man and to unveil the Lew Hill Memorial Plaza.," UTRGV Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque said. "We've invested in this for our fans, for our student-athletes, for our coaches, giving us a chance to compete against the best, recruit the best, and win championships. What also makes today special is honoring Coach Hill. He was an unbelievable man, he was a great mentor to the young men that he coached, and he was a fearless competitor. He loved the game, but it was much more than just basketball. He was a loving husband, an unbelievable father. To be able to honor the legacy of him and the family, it's a blessing to do something on behalf of the university to commemorate everything that Lew meant to us, his family, and to this community."
 
"I was here when Coach Hill first arrived, and his ability to connect with people was special," UTRGV Head Volleyball Coach Todd Lowery said. "Back then, we didn't have everything that's in this building now. This is such a fitting place for him to be honored because that's what this is going to do for our sports going forward and for our fans. We have the best fans in the conference, and now we have the best gameday and the best facility and best everything for our fans to connect with our student-athletes and connect with each other, and that's the beauty of sports and that's what Lew saw. This is an awesome place to be."
 
"It's so important that we remember Coach Hill and his contributions to this university and this athletic department," UTRGV Head Women's Basketball Coach Lane Lord said. "I got to be with him for three years and he was a great mentor to me and I think he'd be so excited to see this atrium opening. For those of us who have been here a little bit of time, it's been amazing to see the transformation of not only our athletic department but the university as a whole. I think Coach Hill would be so pumped up to see this today. We're all excited about the opening of the atrium today." 
 
"This is such an incredible event, not only for this university and our athletic program, but for the region as well," UTRGV Head Men's Basketball Coach Kahil Fennell said. "It speaks to the growth that people like Chasse and Dr. Bailey have been able to put in place. It truly is a special environment and a unique experience not only for the Southland Conference but truly for the region in college athletics. This is also an unbelievable event in terms of legacy. To hear the words that have been spoken about him not only as a coach but as a man and a mentor of young people speaks to everything that's right about this profession and everything that we should be striving to do as coaches. To have Coach Hill and Coach Krueger be a part of the coaching legacy here at UTRGV makes me extremely proud to be in this role as the head men's basketball coach."
 

Hill, who tragically passed away on Feb. 7, 2021 at the age of 55, was the head men's basketball coach at UTRGV for five seasons, making five-win improvements in each of his first three years, culminating with a 20-win 2018-19 season that saw the Vaqueros win an NCAA Division I postseason game for the first time while hosting two rounds of the CIT. For his efforts, Hill was a finalist for the 2019 Ben Jobe Award, presented annually to the top minority coach in Division I men's basketball. In total, the Vaqueros made two postseason appearances under Hill, including an appearance in the 2018 CBI.
 
Hill's teams never quit, rallying back from seven double-digit deficits in 2018-19 and then, after starting the 2019-20 season 6-14, winning eight of their final 10 to earn the No. 2 seed in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament, the highest seed in program history.
 
The Vaqueros picked up right where they left off in 2020-21, going 8-4 under Hill. In total, the Vaqueros won 16 of Hill's final 22 games. Hill was posthumously awarded as the 2021 WAC Coach of the Year, National Association of Basketball Coaches District 6 Co-Coach of the Year, and the CollegeInsider.com Skip Prosser Man of the Year.
 
For his head coaching career, Hill won 67 games, the fifth-best total in program history.
 
"Thank you so much for this honor," Lew Hill's wife Renee Hill said. "Dr. [Guy] Bailey, Chasse, the entire staff, everyone that went into making this happen today, it's amazing. Lew is definitely deserving of all this. This means the world to me. None of this would be possible without God. This all started as an idea at the end of February 2021. There were so many obstacles telling me, who am I to ask for something so big for my husband? But through my faith, here we are four years later and I know he's in heaven smiling, super excited, probably bragging because he has some swagger." 
 
"What a great day to be here in celebration of the Lew Hill Memorial Plaza," Hall of Fame Coach Lon Kruger said. "I'd like to say thank you to Chasse and President Bailey and to many, many others who are responsible for today being possible. The name that goes on the plaza today is the name of a really, really good guy. There's not many so genuine and so caring about others. Lew loved basketball, but his genius was being able to take that love for the game and affect the lives of hundreds and hundreds of young people. He was about the preparation of these young men for life after basketball, to be good husbands and fathers and contributors to society. Such a good person who wanted others to gravitate around you because of your smile and your energy and your positivity. Lew not only preached that, but he did it."

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