MORROW, Ga. – The Clayton State Department of Athletics continues its feature series that highlights members of its Athletics Hall of Fame. This week's spotlight feature highlights Bob Hill, a member of the fifth class to be inducted into the Clayton State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018.

In 2019, Hill passed away peacefully at the age of 89. One of the most successful coaches in Clayton State history, Hill will always be a member of Laker Nation.  

Joining Clayton State men's golf at the dawn of the NCAA era, Bob Hill took a young program and led it to four NCAA Division II Regional appearances in his eight seasons, including each of the first three years of DII eligibility.
 
Taking over in the 1997-98 season, Hill inherited a program that was coming off of an NAIA Southeast Regional trip and continued to build that team into one that would excel against some of the best that Division II had to offer.
 
That year would see the team record three runner-up finishes, tripling the previous amount in the program's brief history, and finishing 8-of-15 at the NCAA South Regional in their first year competing at that level. Additionally, that upstart team would come within two strokes of making it to the national championships.
 
That same narrow miss wouldn't happen in 1998-99, however, as Hill coached the team to the most successful season in program history. The Lakers won their first tournament championship with a victory at the Richard Rendleman Invitational on November 17, 1998 and would record seven other top five finishes.
 
The last of those came at the most opportune time as Clayton State punched their ticket to the NCAA Division II National Championships with a 4-of-15 finish at the South Regional. From there, in their first appearance at that level, they would deliver a 7-of-18 performance and finish No. 7 in the country.
 
It would be a third straight postseason berth in 1999-2000 as the Lakers qualified for the South Regional following five top five finishes. Those included a victory at the North Alabama Classic, runner-up performance at the North Shore Pfeiffer Intercollegiate and a third place outing at the season opening Lynn University Invitational.
 
Continuing the run of the program's postseason appearances, Hill and Clayton State broke new ground in 2002 when Brennan Cass became the first student-athlete to qualify for the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional as an individual.
 
The entire team would make the trip the following year, finishing sixth, before Matt Beall went as an individual in 2005. The latter would be the same year that Hill would collect Peach Belt Conference Coach of the Year honors, which is still the only one in the program's history. It would also be one of many impressive awards earned by Clayton State during his tenure.
 
In 1999, both Adam Short (Second-Team) and Dave Kelly (Third-Team) became the first golfers to earn Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-American recognition. Currently they are among just seven all-time selections among five individuals.
 
Kelly would also collect All-South Region honors that same year and become the first Laker with multiple All-PBC selections, picking those up in 1999 and 2000. Michael Farley would be the first to claim that particular award in 1998 and Matt Beall would be named to the PBC All-Sportsmanship Team in 2006.
 
As successful as they were on the course, Hill's players were just as successful off of it. In 2005, Steve Sanders was named a CoSIDA ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District selection. At the time he was just the fourth such selection in Clayton State Athletics history. He is now one of 16 all-time and remains the only golfer to accomplish the feat. Joining him would be a total of 14 PBC Presidential Honor Roll honorees over the course of Hill's eight seasons.
 
During his time at the helm, Hill took a successful NAIA program and built it into a power within the NCAA Division South/Southeast Region, a player on the national stage and developed an academic standard which has stood the test of time.


2021 Hall of Fame


On July 1, the Department of Athletics announced that the 2011 Clayton State National Championship Women's Basketball Team and coach Dennis Cox will be inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame. Tickets and information can be found here. To view the announcement, please click here. 

About the Hall of Fame
Established in 2013, the Clayton State Athletics Hall of Fame was created to honor former Laker student-athletes, coaches, administrators, faculty/staff and community members who have, by their outstanding achievements, contributed to the ideals of the Clayton State Department of Athletics. Seven classes and 27 former student-athletes, coaches, administrators and special inductees have been enshrined. 

Past Spotlights: 
Olaitan Yusuf
Warren Van Der Westhuizen
Leonard Moreland
Keith Herring
Candi Wyatt
Jackeline Nieto
Dr. Harry S. Downs
Robert Conley
Dr. Joseph S. Wilkes
Lisa Williams
Allison Kreutzer
Dr. Charlie Frazier Jr.
Nkiru Okosieme
Carlos Head
Alex Dowling
Mason Barfield