UTRGV unveils field house expansion, honors Coach Lew Hill

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday opened its new atrium and unveiled the Lew Hill Memorial Plaza, enhancing the experience for fans attending basketball and volleyball games.

"As you look at the entire facility, we've put in a new practice gym, a new weight room, new office space for our staff and administration, renovated all of basketball and volleyball's facilities, and then obviously the interior of the field house going into last season. And so it's been a work in progress for about four years," said UTRGV Athletic Director Chasse Conque.

Conque also spoke about the memorial dedicated to Coach Lew Hill.

"To be able to honor Coach Hill, to be able to unveil the Lew Hill Memorial Plaza, to have Renee and the children here, Coach Hill had such an impact on so many folks, not just in our athletics department, not just in our university community, but across the region."

Also present at Wednesday's unveiling were UTRGV Men's Basketball Head Coach Kahil Fennell, Women's Basketball Head Coach Lane Lord, Volleyball Head Coach Todd Lowery, Renee Hill, widow of Lew Hill, and former men's basketball coach and Hall of Famer Lon Kruger.

The new atrium will feature a modern entrance complete with a box office, team store, concession stand, Hall of Fame area, and restrooms.

This development is part of a broader $180 million investment in construction, renovations, and enhancements across UTRGV's sports programs.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KVEO. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat from a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KVEO staff before being published.