NOTE: This is the first of five features on the LSU Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2006 which will be inducted on July 10, 2006.
By Alex Restrepo
LSU Sports Information
As a high school track star in Cincinnati, D’Andre Hill didn’t know much about LSU as she was being recruited by some of the top programs in the country. Her younger brother Lamar, an avid college basketball fan, mentioned the Tigers’ star athlete at the time, Shaquille O’Neal. O’Neal’s elite status in college athletics fed Hill’s desire to obtain more information about LSU.
“I received a lot of letters from different schools but knew nothing about LSU,” Hill said. “When my brother told me LSU had the No. 1 basketball player in the country, that spiked my interest in the program.
“I started researching and realized I liked a lot of things about LSU. It was in the South, I wanted to be in a warm climate and I just loved my time on campus when I went for my visit. I knew I wanted to go to LSU.”
Hill capped her illustrious career at LSU five years later, one that would eventually include 15 All-America honors, three indoor and three outdoor NCAA team championships, as well as a trip to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
As she enters the LSU Hall of Fame this weekend, Hill has proven that she made the right choice.
Sibling Support
In middle school, Hill’s unmatched speed not only helped her on the track, but also on the soccer field as her fast hands made her an unbreakable goalie.
Hill said her ability to out duel the opposite sex made her want to concentrate solely on becoming a track athlete.
“Beating the guys is what made me want to stick with track,” she commented. “When you are in elementary school and coming through junior high, beating boys is awesome. That pretty much solidified it for me.”
One of those boys was her brother.
Raised in a middle-class neighborhood, the Hill’s were always the fastest kids on the track. However, any chance of a sibling rivalry quickly vanished as Lamar began to blossom into an overpowering opponent. D’Andre admits that her victories over her younger sibling were short lived.
“When we were younger we raced a lot, but as he got faster and stronger that pretty much ended our races,” D’Andre laughed. “He may be my younger brother but once he got taller and bigger than me he got to be pretty good.”
D’Andre credits the support of her brother as one of the key components in her drive to become a great athlete.
“We are both very competitive and still competitive to this day,” she said “He is a pusher. He definitely pushed me through a lot of stuff.”
Unfamiliar Territory
Hill enrolled at LSU knowing its rich tradition in track and field and that she would be expected to live up to its high standard of excellence. Those expectations took a toll on the Cincinnati native as she struggled her first year, then redshirted her second year due to nagging hamstring injuries and academic struggles.
“It was a very difficult time for me,” Hill commented. “I was the typical young kid. You get away from home, you get in the city and no one is watching over you. You can lose your mind.
“I was struggling academically and personally. It was hard because I had so much success in high school and I was entering a program where I wasn’t even the best one standing in the block that day.”
Rather than letting her struggles bring her down, Hill rose to the occasion and used her setbacks as motivation.
“It can be real disheartening and it just motivates you,” Hill said. “You can take something like that two ways–you can get very discouraged like I did my freshman year or you can turn it around and be motivated by it by not letting it beat you up. If so, you will strive and succeed.”
If Hill needed additional motivation, her coach, Hall of Famer Pat Henry, gave it to her. Henry called Hill into his office for a meeting before her sophomore year where she said he, “set her straight.”
“Coach just said, ?We brought you down here to be an important part of our program and to be a student-athlete. Either you are going to step up academically and on the track or you have to go.’ Once your hand is forced you are either going to crumble or you step up.”
Hill chose the latter.
Taking the Lead
Henry’s wake-up call was all Hill needed as she quickly burst onto the scene during her sophomore year, earning five All-America honors and a national title as the second leg on LSU’s relay team.
Hill continued that level of success her junior year as she notched another five All-America selections and two more NCAA Championships in the 100 meters and 4×400 relay.
With all of her collegiate success, Hill found herself as the United States’ fourth-ranked sprinter heading into the 1996 Olympic Trials. Hill would have to beat one of the three competitors ahead of her to make the team. But even as an underdog, Hill was very confident as she headed into the trials.
“It was a feeling (being confident) I had,” she said. “Early on in the year, I woke up one morning and just felt like I was going to make it. I told my boyfriend out of the blue that I was going to make it.”
“The season progressed and we got to nationals and my times kept improving. It seemed like an obvious progression to me. It never seemed to me like I wasn’t going to make the team. I knew I could race with any of the other athletes at that time and it was just like ?Why not?’— it was that simple.”
Her confidence paid off as she made the team by finishing third at the Olympic Trials.
“I came into the trials as a NCAA champion and if you force my hand every round, which is exactly what happened at the Olympic Trials, I am going to step up.”
Still in the Game
Hill continued to race at a professional level after she graduated in 1998. Her love for competition began to die down as the constant traveling took a toll on the former Olympian.
“I ran professionally for a couple of years and the competition was nice but I never liked being overseas or traveling at the extent that you do as a professional athlete,” Hill commented. “It didn’t really do much for me. I came back home and wanted to spend more time with my daughter.”
Hill’s time away from the track did not last long as she soon received a call about a head coaching position at the University of Dayton. Even without any coaching experience, Dayton was interested in Hill because of her extensive resume on the track. Hill was intrigued by the proposal because of how close the university was to her hometown.
“Dayton is only 30 minutes away from Cincinnati,” she said. “It was the head position and at that time I had no experience. They just told me it would be a great opportunity for me being from the area and my extensive history as a track athlete.”
Hill guided the Flyers for three years before leaving for Texas Christian University, where she is currently an assistant coach.
Her confidence as an athlete remains the same as she has high hopes for her coaching future.
“I would definitely like to be a head coach at a top-notch program,” she said. “I am very blessed for the time I spent at LSU, and with my coaching experience I think it will keep me on the right track of becoming a head coach. I enjoy the kids and being around the sport without having to endure the workouts.”
Hill said she will always cherish her time at LSU and she will pass on the lessons she learned there to her track athletes.
“I always tell them to stay positive and to keep an open mind,” Hill said. “You can do just about anything if you are focused and stay focused on what your goals are. You can never give up on yourself.”