SALT LAKE CITY — When Andy Hill was growing up he wanted to become a basketball coach or a truck driver. While the latter was fueled by a fascination with big rigs, Hill’s other aspiration was based on real-life experiences and led to his current job as an assistant coach for the 11th-ranked Utah Utes.
Hill’s father, Rick, had a lot to do with his career choice.
“Part of the reason I’m in coaching is because of him,” Andy said. “He was a high school coach and I used to ride the bus with him when we went to road games and I was on the bench, or at practice, ever since I was a little kid.”
Basketball has always been a big part of their relationship. Same goes for Andy’s mother, Denise.
“They’ve traveled to games and been a part of every team I’ve been on,” Andy explained. “I’ve been fortunate to work with such great coaches that facilitate that family atmosphere.”
His parents, he added, have just always become a part of it.
So, about six months after Andy was hired by Larry Krystkowiak prior to the 2011-12 season, Rick and Denise decided to move from their hometown of Lewiston, Idaho, to Utah. They did so in order to be around his family — Andy, wife Skye Lazaro and their son Garrett.
Rick coached his grandson’s basketball and baseball teams. The semi-retired athletic salesman enjoyed watching the Utes as well, often arriving at games an hour early to watch warm-ups. He would also swing by the office and visit Andy.
“He’s a pretty special guy,” Andy said.
Rick even had a part-time job at the U., helping with the maintenance of athletic fields and such.
All was well until last July. While vacationing with his family in Montana, Andy received a telephone call from his mother. She told him that his father was becoming really forgetful and just not himself. They took him to see a doctor and he was soon rushed to the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
Andy said everything became a scramble from there.
A butterfly-shaped tumor was discovered near Rick’s brain stem. The “one-in-a-million” situation is inoperable. Although chemotherapy and radiation worked for a little while both options were exhausted in November. The 67-year-old is now under hospice care at home.
“It’s like my mom said, not to make light of it, ‘But he won the lottery in the worst way,’” Andy said with tears in eyes.
The Utes have dedicated their season to Rick. They’re going to wear the initials “RH” on their jerseys for the remainder of the season. Rick attended their 71-39 win over UCLA on Jan. 4 and visited the team in the locker room prior to tipoff.
“He means a great deal to our team, as I know that our team means a great deal to him,” said Krystkowiak, who asked everyone to say an extra prayer on Rick’s behalf.
Krystkowiak also noted that folks at the Capital Church in Salt Lake City were “trying to strum up a miracle and see if we can’t have him feeling better.”
Andy said the support his family has received has been unbelievable and is greatly appreciated. The people at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, he added, have been amazing — off the charts, as a matter of fact.
So much so that Andy shared his insights with Krystkowiak.
“Whether it’s business, or church, or family, if you take a little page out of their book on how they operate and how they treat people, the world would be a better place,” said Andy, who has a personalized note about his father from Jon Huntsman Sr. on his desk. “He’s really got that figured out up there and it’s an unbelievable deal.”
The whole theme of this deal, Andy continued, is paying it forward.
“The one thing you learn about when you get up to the Huntsman and deal with cancer is there’s a lot of people that are struggling,” Andy said. “ ... It’s not just about us. It’s about the others that are dealing with it.”
Cancer has affected the Utah basketball program heavily over the past two seasons. Besides Hill’s father, trainer Trevor Jameson and Mac Brennan, the son of deputy athletics director Kyle Brennan, have battled the disease as well.
Utah forward Jordan Loveridge said that when anyone close to the program deals with a life-changing situation, it has an impact on everyone.
“It matters to all of us and it becomes a challenge when we see someone going through that,” Loveridge said. “We just feel real fortunate to know that it means something when we go out there and we play hard and we do things, especially in their name.”
Loveridge added that the members of the program show their respect by playing well and winning games for those people.
Andy acknowledged that dedicating the season to his father is quite meaningful. He appreciates the support. The team matters a lot to Rick.
“I think it’s part of what keeps him going,” Andy said.
On Dec. 9, the night before Utah defeated BYU in the Marriott Center, Rick was honored by the community where he was raised.
The former athletic salesman, who Andy said was the type of guy who ran the local track meet, oversaw the hospitality suite for the district basketball tournament, volunteered at the gate for football games, and even helped out in the concession stands, received an award at halftime of the big rivalry game between Lewiston (Idaho) and Clarkston (Washington) high schools.
The coaches from the teams contacted the Hill family and turned it into a “Coaches vs. Cancer” event. They started an award in Rick Hill’s name to be presented each year for community service.
“It was a pretty neat event,” Andy said. “It was pretty cool.”
A family friend who owns a flying service transported Rick and his family back home for the ceremony. In his speech at the gathering, Andy noted that with cancer things can change real fast — noting that his father went from 100 miles per hour to 5 pretty quickly. As such, the experience has Andy trying to focus more on others and things that really matter.
“I don’t want to have any regrets in the amount of time that I spend with him. Again, Larry’s the best — unbelievable as far as saying, ‘Hey go and do this,'” Andy said. “I don’t know when the last moment is going to be. So sometimes when you’re on the road, it’s a little hard.”
Time is, obviously, precious.
Andy said his father is surrounded by a great family, including older son Aaron who is a professor at Oklahoma State University. Andy noted that their mother is a strong woman who has relied on her Catholic faith to carry her through the ordeal and help provide resiliency.
Utah’s basketball success this season has also helped.
“I think he’s enjoying it. He’s enjoying watching the games even though he doesn’t say a whole bunch,” Andy said. “He’d be super proud of the guys. He knows basketball. He knows things are going good.”
No. 11 Utah (16-3, 6-1) at UCLA (11-9, 3-4)
Thursday, 8 p.m.
TV: ESPN2 Radio: ESPN 700 AM
Email: dirk@desnews.com
Twitter: @DirkFacer