Stanley Alan Hill (born 1955) is a New Zealand former

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who was captain of the

New Zealand men's national basketball team The New Zealand men's national basketball team () represents New Zealand in international basketball competitions. The team is governed by Basketball New Zealand. The team's official nickname is the Tall Blacks (). Over their history, New Zeal ...

, known as the "Tall Blacks", for nine years.

Early life

Hill was born in Christchurch, of Māori descent. His father was Stanley Frank "Tiny" Hill, who represented the

New Zealand national rugby union team The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

from 1955 to 1959, including two matches as captain. Hill played rugby for the St Andrew's College 1st XV, and also represented the school in basketball. He also played basketball Burnham in the Christchurch club competition.

Basketball career

Hill, who was tall, played for the

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

basketball team in

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

men's basketball between 1976 and 1978, scoring 489 points in his two seasons there. Rather than stay in the US and try for

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, he chose to play professionally in England. Hill was chosen for the Tall Blacks as a 17-year-old by the coach

Steve McKean Stephen Ronald McKean ( – 3 May 2021) was an American-born New Zealand basketball coach. He was coach of the New Zealand men's national basketball team, and also coached in the New Zealand NBL. He moved from Auckland to Taranaki in 1990 and ...

and played for the national team for 14 years, including nine years as captain. In 1978, he led New Zealand to a historic first victory over Australia (67–65), coached by McKean. Later that year, the Tall Blacks won the silver medal at the Commonwealth championships in Britain. Hill represented New Zealand at the 1983 Kirin World Invitation Tournament in Japan, which New Zealand won, and was named the MVP. He also played for his country in the

1986 FIBA World Championship The 1986 FIBA World Championship was the 10th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's national teams. It was hosted by Spain and was held from 5 to 20 July 1986. The final phase of the tournament was hel ...

. While playing in New Zealand's National Basketball League, Hill won many awards including: *

New Zealand NBL All-Star Five The National Basketball League All-Star Five is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) honour bestowed on the five best players in the league following every NBL season. The five-player team has been selected in every season of the league's ...

member in the inaugural 1982 season, 1983 and 1985 * 1982

New Zealand NBL Scoring Champion The National Basketball League Scoring Champion is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the league's inaugural season to the player with the highest points per game average of the regular season. The winner receives the ...

* 1982

New Zealand NBL Most Outstanding Forward Award The National Basketball League Most Outstanding Forward is an annual National Basketball League (NBL) award given since the league's inaugural season to the best performing player of the regular season who is classified as a forward or centre. ...

* 1985 New Zealand NBL Most Outstanding Kiwi Forward/Centre Award Hill later coached at NBL level and was assistant coach of the Tall Blacks with Keith Mair. In 2017, Hill was inducted into the New Zealand Basketball Hall of Fame He was also inducted into the

New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame The New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame is an organisation commemorating New Zealand's greatest sporting triumphs. It was inaugurated as part of the New Zealand sesquicentenary celebrations in 1990. Some 160 members have been inducted into the hall ...

in 1995. Hill was honoured by the inception of the Stan Hill Award for NBL players. This award, which Hill himself won in 1985, is given to the best performing

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three, is one of the five Basketball position, positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than Power forward (basketball), power forwards and Cent ...

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers and are typi ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

in the NBL. In the

2000 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2000 for the United Kingdom and New Zealand were announced on 31 December 1999, to celebrate the year passed and mark the beginning of 2000. The ''Honours list'' is a list of people who have been awarded one of the various or ...

, Hill was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to basketball.

Personal life

Hill's younger brother, John, also played basketball for New Zealand. Hill's wife Mandy Purnell played for the

New Zealand women's national basketball team The New Zealand women's national basketball team represents New Zealand in international Women's basketball, basketball competitions. They are nicknamed the Tall Ferns. The team has been coached by Guy Molloy since 2018. The New Zealand women' ...

, the "Tall Ferns", and their sons Ben and Oliver played in the NBL. Ben played for the

Manawatu Jets The Manawatu Jets are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Palmerston North. The Jets compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Central Energy Trust Arena. For sponsorship reasons, they ...

Waikato Pistons The Waikato Pistons were a basketball team based in Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand. The team competed in the National Basketball League (NBL) under different names between 1982 and 2014, with absent years in 1983 and 2012. Team history The Wai ...

and Bay Hawks as well as the Tall Blacks. Oliver played for the

Nelson Giants The Nelson Giants are a New Zealand professional men's basketball team based in Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson. The Giants compete in the National Basketball League (New Zealand), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at the T ...

. As of 2009, Hill had been running the Coromandel Hotel in

Coromandel, New Zealand Coromandel, () also called Coromandel Town to distinguish it from the wider district, is a town on the Coromandel Harbour, on the western side of the Coromandel Peninsula, which is in the North Island of New Zealand. It is 75 kilometres east of ...

, for six years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Stan 1955 births Living people New Zealand men's basketball players 1986 FIBA World Championship players Basketball players from Christchurch People educated at St Andrew's College, Christchurch San Jose State Spartans men's basketball players Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand Māori sportspeople 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen