For Matt Hill, the son of former Windham boys’ basketball Coach Marty Hill, the winningest coach in Portage County history, basketball is not just a family tradition but almost a way of life. Hill will now have a chance to author his own coaching chapter after being hired as the Garfield G-Men boys’ basketball coach after being formally approved by the Board of Education on June 12.
“I have been here. I have gotten to know the kids and the families. I am a lifelong resident of the Garfield community,” Hill said. “For me, like my dad, it means a lot when you are a member of the community and people you know and people you see, people you have relationships with. For me it is somewhere that I am comfortable. The opportunity was there and I was excited to take the next step and be the head coach.”
Hill succeeds former Coach Andy Olesky, who previously announced his resignation as head coach on May 7. Although Hill is replacing the winningest boys’ basketball coach in school history, he inherits a program he has become familiar with, having spent the last six years with various coaching roles in the program.
According to the Windham graduate, having been a part of the boys’ basketball program for the last six years will aid him in his transition.
“I think having those relationships and being in the building for the last six winters during basketball season, the groundwork that goes into your youth program is important and I have organized and helped run our youth program since I have been here,” he noted.
Having been a student-athlete at Windham and continuing his basketball career at Hiram College, Hill’s coaching journey did not originate in Portage County but in Leavittsburg as he joined Windham alum Greg Isler’s coaching staff in the Viking boys’ program. While serving as Isler’s assistant, he also balanced his first full-time teaching job in Cleveland. Hill acknowledged that it was difficult navigating teaching full-time on the west side of Cleveland and then traveling to Trumbull County to fulfill his duties as an assistant coach.
It ultimately resulted in Hill stepping away from coaching basketball while he prioritized his teaching responsibilities. Although Hill was no longer on the sidelines, he still stayed close to the game by being around his father’s program and ran the youth boys’ basketball program from 2015-2019.
Hill said that when his children started attending school in the Windham school district and started playing basketball he once again was drawn to the sport.. When his oldest son, Aidan, entered seventh grade, he transferred to the Garrettsville school district and Hill once again picked up a whistle by joining Olesky’s staff.
“I had kind of known Coach Olesky because he coached against my dad and we knew of each other,” Hill added. “We didn’t really know each other but in our first conversation, he asked me to coach at Garfield; that is where I have been since then.
Hill quietly but quickly rose through the ranks, starting with coaching the 7th grade boys’ team, then becoming the junior varsity head coach before reaching the position as Olesky’s varsity assistant coach.
His coaching career may have started in Trumbull County, but he returned to his Portage County roots to continue the family business. Hill acknowledged that he was happy to return to Portage County, as there was a special feeling coaching high school basketball in a close-knit community.
“I think there is something special about small community schools,” Hill said. “I think for people who go to larger schools, it is something that they do not understand. There is just a pride and a sense of community that you get when you coach and work in a small community; it is different than bigger communities.”
He begins his first year as a head coach taking over a program that graduated six seniors, including four starters and 3 three-year varsity starters. He acknowledged that it will be a young team but like himself, there will be players who have waited in the wings to seize their moment with the 2025-26 season being their time.
While Hill is following in his father’s footsteps, he said that he is taking over as head coach at a different part in his life compared to his father, who was already at the halfway point in his coaching career at Hill’s age. That being said, Hill is ready to leave his mark as a head coach in his own style.
“My route is a little bit different,” he said. “At 45-years-old my dad was already proudly a Hall of Fame Coach so it is different, but for sure my dad and his program at Windham is a big influence on me as far as things I believe in and things we will do.”
