Dalonte Hill has resigned his position as an assistant on Mark Turgeon’s staff at Maryland after he was arrested and charged for driving under the influence last month, his third DUI charge in the past five years. He will be replaced by director of basketball operations Dustin Clark, effective immediately.
Hill was once the highest paid assistant in Division I, earning $423,750 annually while working for former Kansas State coach Frank Martin. His recruiting ties to elite D.C. Assault travel team program helped lure All American forward Michael Beasley and a string of others like Rodney McGruder, Jamal Samuels and Wally Judge to the Big 12 program in out of the way Manhattan and he was considered an influential hire when he was hired by Turgeon, who replaced Gary Williams in the spring of 2011.
Hill was reportedly so eager to get back to his hometown, he was willing to accept a pay cut to join the Terps’ staff. He helped Turgeon tap into D.C. Assault gold mine for high profile recruits like guards Roddy Peters of Suitland, Md. and Melo Trimble of Bishop O’Connell in Arlington, Va., but Assault took a huge hit last summer after the arrest of co-founder Curtis Malone on drug charges and will reportedly reinvent itself under the name, D.C. Premier..
Hill has been troubled with alcohol problems. With his 2008 arrest for DUI already on his record from his time at Kansas, he was suspended by Maryland for two games following a guilty plea on a 2012 charge. He was stopped again Oct. 20 and booked on five related charges in the Washington suburb of Laurel, Md. Before that arrest became public, Maryland announced Hill was taking a leave.
The Terps also announced they will hire Juan Dixon, an All American guard who led the Terps to the 2002 NCAA championship, as a special assistant to Turgeon.
