TEMPE, Ariz. -- Matt Hill is undaunted by challenges.
The new Sun Devil men's tennis coach helped turn around programs at Mississippi State and at South Florida, where he was a three-time American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and guided the Bulls to a 21-9 record and the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
"I've been a part of some great programs, but the opportunity to start a program back up that had been shut down for a while is a very different kind of challenge," Hill said of ASU men's tennis, which has been dormant since 2008. "I live to be challenged."
Not always by choice. Sixteen years ago, Hill was experiencing pain in his right knee that wouldn't subside. The eventual diagnosis was osteosarcoma, the most common type of cancer that develops in bones.
"When the doctor walked in and said she was 99 percent sure it was cancer, I passed out on the spot," said Hill, who was 19. "At the time, they didn't have a set protocol for treatment. Everything was research based, but that was still a big improvement. Three to five years earlier they were amputating limbs and kids were still dying because the cancer was in their blood. I was very happy that they had moved on from that plan."
With his parents by his side, Hill underwent an aggressive form of chemotherapy for six months in Lansing, Michigan where his parents still live.
"At the six-month mark, they were going to cut the tumor out and give me a knee replacement because they thought the cancer cells would be 99 percent dead, but it was like 45 percent so they pushed on.
"They threw everything they could at me. They told my dad, 'If we gave you two doses of what we gave him it would kill you but because he's so young and in shape he can handle it.'"
Hill wasn't as sure he could handle it.
"During one of his last treatments he begged me to let him die," Hill's father, Charles Hill said. "He was curled up in the fetal position, IVs everywhere, he was throwing up, he had lost his hair and he had lost a lot of weight.
"They told us to just keep him moving and coming back so I said, 'Matt, I'll give you five minutes to have a pity party then I'll come back and drag you down the hallway and we'll have a good walk.' It was awful but we kept doing it, he made it, and I think it was bonding experience for the whole family."
Hill had grown up playing tennis, but his desire waned when he became a teenager and he admitted that he was only coaching a high school junior varsity girls team because he needed the money -- or so he thought.
"Going through that changes everything," he said. "You value smaller things you wouldn't normally think of. My dad retired at a young age to get into ministry so my parents were around all the time, but my perspective of how much my parents loved me changed.
"I saw a lot of suffering greater than mine during my time in the hospital that caused me to rethink life, too, and I still catch myself getting upset over something minor or taking some things for granted."
One of those things was tennis. When Hill emerged, cancer-free, he realized that he genuinely enjoyed coaching high school kids, so he decided to pursue his passion in a way that might also support a family.
Shortly after treatment had ended, Hill sought out then-Michigan State coach Gene Orlando for some professional advice.
"I told him I wanted to be a college coach and I asked him what might be the best avenue for me to pursue that," Hill said. "He looked at me kind of puzzled because I'm sitting there on crutches, I weighed about 150 pounds, and I'm white as a sheet with no hair.
"He said, ''Matt you never played college tennis. You have to play to coach' so I said, 'OK, I'm gonna play then. Could I still play here?'
"He gave me this look like 'I don't know if you're gonna be here next week, let alone next season.'"
Orlando laid out some options, and after a year of rehab and a short stint at a community college, Hill walked on at Division II Ferris State, one of a few schools in the country that offered a professional tennis management program -- eventually working his way onto the third doubles team.
"I enjoyed every minute of playing there and the pro tennis management program was incredible," he said. "I spent time researching and learning and reading anything and everything I could get my hands on. I always tell people, 'I've been coaching 11 years, but I've been planning for it for 14 years."
ASU Vice President for Athletics Ray Anderson originally tabbed Michigan coach Adam Steinberg to guide the Sun Devils' re-birth, but Steinberg had a change of heart for personal reasons and returned to Ann Arbor.
Hill wasn't aware of the news for good reason. He and his wife, Katie, had a baby girl, Caroline Rose Hill, on May 25. Life has been a bit chaotic.
"When I got a call from (senior associate athletics director) Scottie Graham, I looked down at my phone and thought, 'that's odd. Maybe he's just calling to thank me for my time,' but they were looking to fly me in so I ran it though my wife.
"When I visited, I spent time with Scottie and Ray and their wives. It was amazing. It was easy for me to see that these were the type of people I'd like to associate myself with."
With the support of the administration, the status of a Pac-12 prowess in recruiting, and the weight of the Tempe-based Intercollegiate Tennis Association behind him, Hill said he cannot wait to get started.
"There are so many positives with Arizona State that I could probably talk all day," he said. "To me, Ray is sending a message to other programs around the country that there are two ways to run an athletics department. You can either cut programs and save costs or you can find a way to generate new revenue and be aggressive. This guy is amazing, and everyone around him understands that he is a visionary and he is innovative.
"Add to that that we are working with a blank canvas in men's tennis and that makes it exciting when you imagine the possibilities."
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The new Sun Devil men's tennis coach helped turn around programs at Mississippi State and at South Florida, where he was a three-time American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year and guided the Bulls to a 21-9 record and the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.
"I've been a part of some great programs, but the opportunity to start a program back up that had been shut down for a while is a very different kind of challenge," Hill said of ASU men's tennis, which has been dormant since 2008. "I live to be challenged."
Not always by choice. Sixteen years ago, Hill was experiencing pain in his right knee that wouldn't subside. The eventual diagnosis was osteosarcoma, the most common type of cancer that develops in bones.
"When the doctor walked in and said she was 99 percent sure it was cancer, I passed out on the spot," said Hill, who was 19. "At the time, they didn't have a set protocol for treatment. Everything was research based, but that was still a big improvement. Three to five years earlier they were amputating limbs and kids were still dying because the cancer was in their blood. I was very happy that they had moved on from that plan."
With his parents by his side, Hill underwent an aggressive form of chemotherapy for six months in Lansing, Michigan where his parents still live.
"At the six-month mark, they were going to cut the tumor out and give me a knee replacement because they thought the cancer cells would be 99 percent dead, but it was like 45 percent so they pushed on.
"They threw everything they could at me. They told my dad, 'If we gave you two doses of what we gave him it would kill you but because he's so young and in shape he can handle it.'"
Hill wasn't as sure he could handle it.
"During one of his last treatments he begged me to let him die," Hill's father, Charles Hill said. "He was curled up in the fetal position, IVs everywhere, he was throwing up, he had lost his hair and he had lost a lot of weight.
"They told us to just keep him moving and coming back so I said, 'Matt, I'll give you five minutes to have a pity party then I'll come back and drag you down the hallway and we'll have a good walk.' It was awful but we kept doing it, he made it, and I think it was bonding experience for the whole family."
Hill had grown up playing tennis, but his desire waned when he became a teenager and he admitted that he was only coaching a high school junior varsity girls team because he needed the money -- or so he thought.
"Going through that changes everything," he said. "You value smaller things you wouldn't normally think of. My dad retired at a young age to get into ministry so my parents were around all the time, but my perspective of how much my parents loved me changed.
"I saw a lot of suffering greater than mine during my time in the hospital that caused me to rethink life, too, and I still catch myself getting upset over something minor or taking some things for granted."
One of those things was tennis. When Hill emerged, cancer-free, he realized that he genuinely enjoyed coaching high school kids, so he decided to pursue his passion in a way that might also support a family.
Shortly after treatment had ended, Hill sought out then-Michigan State coach Gene Orlando for some professional advice.
"I told him I wanted to be a college coach and I asked him what might be the best avenue for me to pursue that," Hill said. "He looked at me kind of puzzled because I'm sitting there on crutches, I weighed about 150 pounds, and I'm white as a sheet with no hair.
"He said, ''Matt you never played college tennis. You have to play to coach' so I said, 'OK, I'm gonna play then. Could I still play here?'
"He gave me this look like 'I don't know if you're gonna be here next week, let alone next season.'"
Orlando laid out some options, and after a year of rehab and a short stint at a community college, Hill walked on at Division II Ferris State, one of a few schools in the country that offered a professional tennis management program -- eventually working his way onto the third doubles team.
"I enjoyed every minute of playing there and the pro tennis management program was incredible," he said. "I spent time researching and learning and reading anything and everything I could get my hands on. I always tell people, 'I've been coaching 11 years, but I've been planning for it for 14 years."
ASU Vice President for Athletics Ray Anderson originally tabbed Michigan coach Adam Steinberg to guide the Sun Devils' re-birth, but Steinberg had a change of heart for personal reasons and returned to Ann Arbor.
Hill wasn't aware of the news for good reason. He and his wife, Katie, had a baby girl, Caroline Rose Hill, on May 25. Life has been a bit chaotic.
"When I got a call from (senior associate athletics director) Scottie Graham, I looked down at my phone and thought, 'that's odd. Maybe he's just calling to thank me for my time,' but they were looking to fly me in so I ran it though my wife.
"When I visited, I spent time with Scottie and Ray and their wives. It was amazing. It was easy for me to see that these were the type of people I'd like to associate myself with."
With the support of the administration, the status of a Pac-12 prowess in recruiting, and the weight of the Tempe-based Intercollegiate Tennis Association behind him, Hill said he cannot wait to get started.
"There are so many positives with Arizona State that I could probably talk all day," he said. "To me, Ray is sending a message to other programs around the country that there are two ways to run an athletics department. You can either cut programs and save costs or you can find a way to generate new revenue and be aggressive. This guy is amazing, and everyone around him understands that he is a visionary and he is innovative.
"Add to that that we are working with a blank canvas in men's tennis and that makes it exciting when you imagine the possibilities."
Follow Craig Morgan on Twitter