While he was the fourth coach in Houston Baseball history, Lovette Hill established himself as the father of Cougar baseball by the time his career ended.
As the Cougar skipper for 25 years from 1950-74, Hill's teams compiled 343 victories with five first-place finishes in the Missouri Valley Conference. Only three seasons after he became head coach, Hill guided the Cougars to their first-ever appearance in the 1953 NCAA College World Series.
As impressive as that achievement was, Hill would add an even more impressive accomplishment toward the end of his career. In 1967, Hill's Cougars advanced to the NCAA District VI playoffs against Texas. In the championship game, UH rallied from a three-run deficit to take a 4-3 win and advance to the NCAA College World Series again. But the Cougars were not finished in Omaha. After dropping the first game to Stanford, Hill's Cougar team - which featured future Major Leaguer Tom Paciorek - won three straight games before bowing out to Arizona State in the National Championship game.
By the time his career ended, Hill had recorded 343 victories, good enough to rank as the third-winningest coach in program history. In addition, his 25 years as the leader of the Cougar program was more than double the closest coach in school history.
Hill is a member of the University of Houston Hall of Honor.
