July 15, 2004
Columbia, S.C. – South Carolina women’s basketball coach Susan Walvius announced the hiring of Linda Hill-MacDonald as an assistant coach today.
With 32 years of coaching experience, Hill-MacDonald is recognized as one of the top tacticians in women’s basketball. This is her second stint at South Carolina, where she served as an assistant coach under Walvius from 2000-2003, a period in which the Gamecocks made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and had consecutive top-20 national rankings. She left her post after the 2002-03 season to join the Washington Mystics’ staff as an assistant coach, where she resigned her position along with head coach Marianne Stanley in January of 2004. Following her stint with the Mystics, Hill-MacDonald served as a scout for the New York Liberty before returning to South Carolina.
“We are very excited to have Linda back with us,” Walvius said. “She is one of the best teachers of fundamentals in women’s basketball. She was a big part of our success as we finished sixth in the nation with a trip to the Elite Eight in 2002. She built great relationships with our student-athletes and we are happy to have her back.”
Hill-MacDonald served as the first head coach of the WNBA’s Cleveland Rockers from 1997-99. In her three seasons, she led the team to a 42-38 overall record, the 1998 Eastern Conference Championship Title and the team’s first trip to the WNBA Playoffs in 1998. Hill-MacDonald was also selected to coach the Eastern Conference Team in the Inaugural 1999 WNBA All-Star Game.
“Coming back to South Carolina is like returning to family,” Hill-MacDonald said. “I am familiar with Coach Walvius and her style, and I look forward to working with the new players in the program and doing whatever I can to help South Carolina be successful.”
She also has head coaching experience in the collegiate ranks, leading the program at the University of Minnesota from 1990-96 and at Temple University from 1980-90. In her 10 years at Temple, she became the school’s most successful women’s basketball coach. The Owls had only one winning season in seven before Hill-MacDonald’s arrival, then made two WNIT trips and earned an NCAA tournament berth with her at the helm. She was twice rewarded as the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, in addition to securing Big 5 Coach of the Year recognition once.
During her seven seasons at Minnesota, Hill-MacDonald impressed the importance of academics on her student-athletes, with 20 Gophers earning Academic All-Big Ten recognition under her watch. At Temple, she also served as an academic advisor, organizing study skill sessions and tutoring programs for all female student-athletes.
Originally from Morton, Pa., Hill-MacDonald graduated from West Chester University in 1970 with a degree in health, physical education and recreation. She earned her masters’ degree in physical education in 1984 after returning to her alma mater. As a student-athlete at West Chester, she was a three-sport standout, earning honors in basketball, lacrosse and field hockey. She was inducted into West Chester’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.
