SEE IT BEav IT: Aki Hill

Accepting the women's basketball head coaching job at Oregon State set Aki Hill on a Hall of Fame path in Corvallis and she continues to cheer on her Beavers every game.

Hill was named to Oregon State's Hall of Fame in 2020 as the school's winningest coach with 274 wins on the Beaver bench. She led OSU to the postseason eight times during her 17-year career, winning the National Women's Invitational Tournament in 1980 and 1982.

The former coach now has a new role with the program as one of its most dedicated supporters. She attend games with her former player, Carol Menken, and can often be seen offering words of encouragement to coaches and players alike.

You are going to love this team! So good to be officially back! Also very special to have Beaver greats Carol Menken-Schaudt and Aki Hill with us today! #GoBeavs pic.twitter.com/4v5N6cEgcl
— Scott Rueck (@CoachRueck) September 30, 2022

Hill is being showcased in conjunction with OSU's SEE IT, BEav IT initiative, marking the 50th anniversary of Title IX. It will focus on celebrating the stories of OSU prominent women's athletes and athletics.

"Title IX set the stage for important growth, and we are grateful to all of the pioneers of women's athletics who helped create opportunities for our current generation of student-athletes," said OSU Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Scott Barnes.

"We look forward to sharing the stories of some of our outstanding past and present female student-athletes, coaches and staff members throughout the 2022-23 year."

A native of Yokohama, Japan, Hill began her coaching career as the first and only female coach in Japan's AAV system. Prior to that, she had been a starting guard on the Tokyo Marine Company Team that won the Japanese National AAU Championship in 1965.

After a year learning from John Wooden, Hill was named the head coach at Oregon State and implemented a pressure defense that helped the Beavers record as many wins in her first season (15) as they had in the first two years of the program combined.

The defensive system required teamwork, togetherness and effort to defeat other teams that sometimes had superior raw talent to the Beavers and it was effective with multiple NWIT titles and trips to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

"My emphasis, my strength was teaching the fundamental skills to play as a team, not one superstar," Hill said. "That was my selling point about OSU. This is the best environment to study and play, and there are really loving people in the athletic department, school and community. So, you really can develop your potential to the maximum."

Hill mentored Oregon State's first three All-Americans: Menken, Judy Spoelstra and Juli Coleman. After rewriting the record book under Hill with many marks that still stand today and leading Oregon State to the first of two NWIT Championships, Menken went on to make Team USA and win an Olympic Gold Medal in 1984. The coach-player duo can now be seen in the stands at nearly every Beaver home game.

"I like to see all of the coaches, assistant coaches and the students' dream come true at Oregon State. We like to be the one of the powerhouses in the PAC-12 and bring the national championship to the west coast," Hill said.

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