Assistant hoops coach Hill returns to practice

By Rob Miech

Sunday, Feb. 8, 2009 | 2:44 p.m.

UNLV assistant basketball coach Lew Hill returned to practice Sunday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center.

He left the arena on a stretcher, wearing an oxygen mask, after experiencing chest pain late Tuesday night after the Rebels’ overtime defeat to San Diego State.

Sunday was his first time back with the team.

“It feels great,” Hill said. “Still a little tired, but I’m OK. I’m getting my strength back each day. I’m fine.”

Hill, 43, mostly sat in a front-row seat during practice, briefly exchanging strategy with several players and Rebels coach Lon Kruger. He moved slowly and barely talked above a whisper.

But he was thankful that an angiogram and other tests showed no major irregularities. However, doctors have prescribed some lifestyle changes, including diet.

“It was not a good experience, but I’m OK now,” Hill said. “I’ve just got to change a few things, but I have no problem with that. I’m OK.”

Hill declined to detail those changes.

“A little bit of everything,” he said. “Food is one of them, but a little bit of everything. I’ll just leave it at that.”

Hill said he did not collapse in the coaches’ locker room Tuesday night. Still, he said, it was a scary situation because of the pain in his chest. It was his first such episode.

“Anytime you get pain in your chest, it’s scary,” he said. “I took the (angiogram) and the test was negative, so that was good.”

Hill watched some of Saturday night’s overtime defeat to New Mexico at The Pit in Albuquerque on television, but he was too tired to watch all of it. That dropped UNLV to 17-6.

“We had a chance to win the game,” he said. “It ain’t like they went down there and got their butts kicked. We had a chance to win all of our losses, but California, basically.

“We normally win those games. We have to get back to finding a way to win.”

What has to happen?

“It’s not simple,” Hill said. “If it were simple, we’d have figured it out by now. We just have to find a way to get it done.”

He confirmed that he’s been deluged with phone calls, test messages and e-mails.

“Everyone has been wonderful,” Hill said. “The fans, my family, coaches, players … everybody has just been wonderful. I thank them very much. Just tell them I’m fine.”