Candice Hill - Women's Basketball Coach - St. John's University Athletics

Candice Hill

Title:
Assistant Coach / Recruiting Coordinator
Email:
walkerc@stjohns.edu

Candice Hill enters her third season with the program and serves as the associate head coach and recruiting coordinator.

Hill was hired as the St. John’s women’s basketball assistant coach and recruiting coordinator in April of 2021.She was elevated to associate head coach following the 2021-22 campaign and will maintain her role spearheading the Johnnies' recruiting efforts.

Last season in 2022-23, Hill mentored a guard unit that featured three BIG EAST award winners and combined for 72.7 percent of the team's scoring. Jayla Everett was a unanimous all-conference first team selection, Unique Drake was named BIG EAST Sixth-Woman of the Year and Kadaja Bailey was all-league honorable mention.

She played an integral role in getting the Red Storm back to the NCAA Tournament for first time since 2016 and compiling a 23-9 record.

As recruiting coordinator, Hill was pivotal in compiling the 2023-24 roster that features eight newcomers comprised of four transfers and four freshmen.

Working primarily with the guards in 2021-22, Walker saw St. John's Leilani Correa earn All-BIG East First Team honors. The Manchester, N.J., native was the first player to earn back-to-back first team honors since Aliyyah Handford, who received the accolade from 2013-16. The Red Storm also saw Kadaja Bailey's efforts rewarded by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association as she took home All-MET Third Team honors following her senior campaign.

Hill brings nearly a decade of coaching and recruiting experience to the Red Storm staff. The Baltimore native joins the Johnnies following a season serving as the assistant coach at her alma mater, Loyola Maryland.

Prior to her time with the Greyhounds, Hill spent six seasons at the University of Massachusetts. Walker was hired by UMass before the start of the 2015-16 season as the director of operations. After one season as the team’s director of operations, Walker was promoted to assistant coach prior to the start of the 2016-17 campaign. During her four-year tenure as an assistant coach, Walker helped UMass improve from 9-21 in 2016-17 to a 20-win season (20-11) in 2019-20. This marked the Massachusetts’ first 20-win season since 1995-96.

In 2019, Hill added recruiting coordinator duties to her resume, helping to assemble several nationally-ranked recruiting classes. In the season to follow, Walker helped the team lead the Atlantic 10 Conference and finish 36th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.13:1) while closing out the season ranked second in the league in scoring offense (66.0 ppg).

Following the 2019-2020 campaign, Walker earned the Women's Basketball Coaches Association's prestigious Thirty Under 30 Award, an honor that recognizes up-and-coming coaches at all levels of women's basketball.

Before joining the staff in Amherst, Massachusetts, Walker began her collegiate coaching career at Wilmington (Del.) University from 2013-15.

In addition to her coaching ability, Walker was a standout on the court for the Greyhounds. She burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2007-08, becoming the first rookie to start at point guard for the Greyhounds since the 1991-92 season. After setting a freshman record for assists with 93, Walker earned Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference All-Rookie recognition. Over her collegiate career, she played in 117 games, a mark that still ranks 10th in school history, while making 59 starts.