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"I am very pleased that Joe Hillock has accepted the position of director of operations," said Howland. "Joe brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to our program, and I'm very excited to have him join our staff."
Hillock is Southern Utah's all-time winningest women's basketball coach with 128 victories. He was the Thunderbirds' head coach for 10 seasons (from 1996-97 to 2005-06).
Hillock earned his bachelor's degree in Physical Education at Southern Utah in 1976 and served as an undergraduate assistant women's coach for the first varsity team at SUU during the 1975-76 season. He then went on to the first of two stints as the head boy's basketball coach at nearby Milford High School (Milford, Utah) from 1978-79. After guiding Milford HS to back-to-back region titles, he served for 12 years (1979-91) as an assistant at Gonzaga (eight years under Dan Fitzgerald and four under his brother, Jay Hillock).
The 56-year-old Santa Barbara, Calif., native completed his master's degree in administration at Gonzaga in 1982. After his stint with the Bulldogs, Hillock moved to Loyola Marymount, where he assisted his brother, Jay, currently the Director of Pro Personnel for the NBA's Chicago Bulls, during the 1991-92 season. After completing the 1992-93 season at LMU, he returned to Milford High as the boy's basketball coach and athletic director from 1993-96 until taking the helm of the women's program at SUU in 1996.
He and his wife, Denise, a former star softball pitcher at Southern Utah in the mid-70s, are the parents of three children, Joe, Jr., Heather and Jordan.
