E.C. Hill Position: Assistant Coach Experience: 4th Year Alma Mater: Northern Illinois, 1995

Adding NIU Hall of Famer E.C. Hill to her staff was one of the easiest decisions head coach Carol Owens ever made. Owens named Hill and Molly Murray as the cornerstones of her coaching staff almost immediately after taking the Huskie head job.

"I've known E.C. since high school," Owens said. "I've watched her play at Whitney Young and kept in touch with her during her pro career. One of Chicago's great players, she has tremendous contacts and has helped us bridge the gap between NIU and Chicago. Her experience playing in the WNBA is great in helping develop our guards."

Since returning to DeKalb, Hill has done an outstanding job working with the Huskie guards. In her first two years, she coached Huskie standout Stephanie Raymond. Raymond, a first team All-MAC selection in 2006-07, became the first Huskie to be drafted by the WNBA.

After Raymond was selected 20th overall by the Chicago Sky, Hill trained with her up until the day she left for training camp. She and Raymond are the only two NIU women's basketball players to play in the league.

Hill has done an excellent job working with Marke Freeman, and Kylie York. Freeman was named MAC Sixth Player of the Year after leading the Huskies in assists and scoring over nine points a game. York hit 76 three-pointers last season, the third-most in NIU history.

Like Owens, Hill is an NIU Athletics Hall of Famer (a 2004 inductee) and her name can be found throughout the Northern Illinois women's basketball record book. She helped lead the Huskies to three straight NCAA Tournament berths under NIU Hall of Fame coach Jane Albright.

Hill played professional basketball for the New England Blizzard (1996-99) and Chicago Condors (1998-99) in the American Basketball League; and the Charlotte Sting (2000), Phoenix Mercury (2001), Los Angeles Sparks (2001), and Orlando Miracle (2002) in the WNBA; as well as in Athens, Greece.

Before embarking on her pro career, Hill was a standout at Northern Illinois.

She was named a first-team United States Basketball Writers Association All-American, Kodak District Four All-America, preseason Street and Smith's and Basketball Times All-American, Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year, first-team All-Mid-Con, and All-Mid-Con Tournament on a 25-6 NCAA Tourney squad that won the 1993-94 Mid-Con regular-season title with an 18-0 record, led the league and ranked 16th nationally in scoring (22.0 ppg.).

A two-time Northern Illinois MVP (1992-93, 1993-94), Hill was named the North Star Conference Newcomer of the Year with a 14.2 points per game average in 1991-92.

She graduated from Northern Illinois in 1995 with a degree in communications.