Maryland's Dalonte Hill - Three DUIs Ends It

by Chris Spatola
November 27, 2013

Turns out Maryland assistant coach Dalonte Hill had three lives, and almost a fourth, but ultimately "resigned" today following his third DUI arrest in five years.  That's right, since 2008 Hill has been arrested three times for DUI.  In most work environments, one DUI, maybe two, is the threshold for termination.  Apparently not in the case of Dalonte Hill, whose connections to the D.C. area, and its surrounding talent bases, have kept him lucratively employed, most recently by the likes of Kansas State and Maryland.

Kansas State was able to lure Hill to Manhattan offering a salary north of $400,000.  In return, Hill delivered talented recruits such as Michael Beasley, Rodney McGruder and Jamar Samuels.  In 2011, Turgeon hired Hill at Maryland. Hill's connections to D.C., and specifically the D.C. Assault AAU program, were a natural fit.  Once again, Hill delivered, drawing commitments form Damonte Dodd, Roddy Peters and Romeo Trimble, all of whom played for the Assault.

Much has been said and written about the salaries Hill has garnered.  The fact is, you make what the market feels you're worth. In this era of college basketball, the demand for a guy who can deliver the talent Hill has been able to deliver is very high.  More power to him.  Perhaps though, the demand for a guy like Hill should not be viewed through the prism of salary, but through the murky optic that Hill was so valuable for his ability to recruit, it took three DUIs for his employer to finally say enough is enough.

I get it, we live in a world of second chances.  Clearly, Hill has addiction issues and I would never advocate cutting someone loose who has those types of issues.  However, in a day-in-age when eliminating drunk driving and the needless death and injury it causes is a major focus, the decision to employ someone beyond two DUIs is questionable at best.  Which ultimately begs the question, and one I hope Maryland has to answer at some point - beyond his three-game suspension, what corrective steps were taken by Maryland after Hill's second DUI in 2012 to modify Hill's apparent issues with drinking and driving?

I'm not naive to the business that college athletics has become, I've coached in it and work in it.  I understand the money basketball brings in for the University of Maryland, money that is, in many ways, predicated upon winning.  To win you need talent, and that's where Dalonte Hill comes in, I get that.  Please tell me, though, that we have not lost complete sight of the fact that college athletics is about teaching young men the difference between right and wrong.  Please tell me that college athletics is still, at some level, meant to teach values and vision that will last a lifetime. If this is still the case, what message does an athletic department send to its athletes when it decides to keep a man who has two DUIs on his record?

The decision to let Dalonte Hill go, or I guess let him "resign," is hard to debate.  But, it simply does beg the question: what took so long?

When Dalonte Hill was at Charlotte, prior to being hired by Kansas State, Michael Beasley was committed to go Charlotte because of his relationship to Hill.  As soon as Hill was hired by Bob Huggins at Kansas State, Beasley changed his commitment to - where else? - Kansas State.  With the talent Hill has procured for Maryland in his short time there, it makes you wonder if Maryland chose not to let Hill go after that second DUI because of the recruiting implications his dismissal might have.  Or were they, as Mark Turgeon said following Hill's third DUI last month, "[supporting] him through the process?"

Hill will be hired again.  There's no question about that.  Hopefully, in the meantime, he gets some help with his issues.