May 12, 2005

Columbia, S.C. – The University at Buffalo announced the hiring of former South Carolina women’s basketball assistant coach Linda Hill-MacDonald as the school’s head coach Thursday.

Hill-MacDonald has a wealth of coaching experience, having served as the head coach at Temple University from 1980-90 and at the University of Minnesota from 1990-96. She left Minnesota to become the first head coach of the WNBA’s Cleveland Rockers from 1997-99. During her time in Cleveland, she led the Rockers to the 1998 Eastern Conference Championship was selected to coach the Eastern Conference team in the 1999 WNBA All-Star game.

After her run in Cleveland came to an end, Hill-MacDonald joined Susan Walvius’ staff as an assistant coach at South Carolina from 2000-03 and was a key figure in the Gamecocks advancing to the Elite Eight in 2002 and finishing in the top-20 in 2003. From the summer of 2002 through January of 2004, Hill-MacDonald also served as an assistant coach for the Washington Mystics before re-joining the South Carolina staff exclusively for the 2004-05 season.

“It has been a tremendous experience having the opportunity to work with Susan Walvius at South Carolina and share in the experience of going to the Elite Eight and then to work with Susan again,” Hill-MacDonald said. “I feel very fortunate to have had the experience that I had at South Carolina. I learned a lot in the new role of being an assistant coach and it helped to put things into perspective. It was a very positive experience and I am grateful to the administration and particularly grateful to Susan for giving me the chance.”

“We are very happy for Linda as she gets back into being a head coach,” Walvius said. “She is a great coach, a wonderful person and one of the top teachers in the game. She has a tremendous work ethic and we will miss her. Buffalo has made an excellent decision to bring her in to lead the women’s basketball program, and we wish her the best of luck as she moves forward with this excellent opportunity.”

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.

A national search for Hill-MacDonald’s replacement at South Carolina will begin immediately.