TicketsJohnny Hill, who spent the 2025-26 season as an assistant coach on Jerrod Calhoun’s staff at Utah State, enters his first season as an assistant coach at Cincinnati.
In 2025-26, Utah State went 29-7, winning the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies, highlighted by Mountain West Player of the Year Mason Falslev, went 15-5 in conference play and, for the second-straight year, possessed one of the most efficient offenses in the country, ranking 26th in adjusted offensive efficiency. However, the Aggies also saw a considerable improvement on the defensive end, going from 150th in 2024-25 to 44th in 2025-26. Utah State led the Mountain West and ranked in the top 30 nationally in turnover margin (11th, 3.6), field goal percentage (15th, 49.6), assists per game (17th, 17.6), assist-to-turnover ratio (17th, 1.69), scoring margin (22nd, 11.4) and steals per game (26th, 8.7). The Aggies also led the conference in fastbreak points (13.86) and scoring offense (82.1).
Falslev also was named to the Mountain West All-Defensive Team, Karson Templin was named conference Sixth Man of the Year, MJ Collins Jr. garnered All-Mountain West Second Team recognition and Drake Allen earned All-Mountain West Honorable Mention laurels.
Hill spent the 2024-25 season as an assistant coach at UIC, where he played a key role in the Flames' defensive and scouting efforts, as well as player development and relations and recruiting. In addition, he served as UIC's primary liaison for its network of men's basketball alumni. While at UIC, he helped the Flames achieve their first winning season in five years as the team went 17-14, its most wins since 2019-20.
While serving as an assistant coach and the director of player development at Utah State under Danny Sprinkle in 2023-24, Hill helped the Aggies to a 28-7 record, the team's first-ever Mountain West Conference regular-season title and a victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, all despite being one of only three teams in the nation to return zero points from its previous year's roster. Hill helped aid the development of Mountain West Player of the Year and Third Team All-American Great Osobor, along with all-MW selections Darius Brown II and Ian Martinez.
During the 2022-23 campaign, Hill worked with Sprinkle at Montana State and helped lead the squad to a 25-10 overall record and its second-straight NCAA Tournament appearance. It marked the first time the Bobcats had back-to-back 20-win seasons since 1994-96. Three Bobcats earned all-conference honors, while two players garnered individual accolades (Defensive Player of the Year and Top Reserve). Two Montana State players earned all-tournament honors, including Big Sky Tournament MVP RaeQuan Battle.
Prior to his tenure with the Bobcats, Hill served two years as the special assistant to the head coach and one season as a graduate assistant at Grand Canyon. During his three years with the program, the Lopes had a 55-43 record, including a 27-19 record in Western Athletic Conference games.
Hill began his coaching career as an assistant at the University of Northwestern Ohio, also acting as the head coach of the junior varsity team.
Hill began his collegiate playing career at Illinois State, earning the team's Most Improved Player award. He then played two seasons at Texas Arlington, where he was named a team captain and started for the Mavericks and completed his career at Purdue, starting 11 games for a Boilermaker team that was nationally ranked throughout the year. He helped the team earn a five seed in the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
Hill made the academic honor roll at both Texas Arlington and Purdue. He earned his bachelor's degree in communication from Texas Arlington before obtaining a master's degree in leadership and technology innovation from Purdue.