Sept. 18, 2017
ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic have promoted Jay Hernandez and Matt Hill to assistant coach, President of Basketball Operations Jeff Weltman announced today. In addition, Randy Wittman has been added to the staff as a coaching consultant.
Hernandez enters his fourth season with the Orlando Magic and first as assistant coach. He originally joined the Magic as assistant coach/player development prior to the 2014-15 campaign, where he was responsible for on-court skill development, as well as game scouts. Hernandez established and collaborated with various departments to implement a return from injury protocol that incorporates analytics with an on-court simulation. He has also been responsible for organizing and running on court pre-draft workouts for the last three seasons.
Hernandez played one season at the University of New Hampshire (1996-97) and three seasons at Hofstra University (1998-2001). He helped Hofstra to a berth in the NIT in 1999, then back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2000 and 2001 as team captain. Hernandez went on to play professionally in Puerto Rico for three seasons.
Hernandez has a dual MBA in both marketing and management from Hofstra. He and his wife, Allison, have three children, McKayla (20), Michael (14) and Morgan (12). McKayla currently plays basketball at Molloy College.
Hill begins his sixth season with the Orlando Magic and first as an assistant coach. He began his career in 2012, joining the Magic as a video analyst/opposition. Hill was later promoted in 2015 to manager of advanced scouting/player development.
Hill starred at Southeast High School in Lincoln, Neb., where he was named Nebraska’s “Mr. Basketball” and the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Nebraska as a senior in 2006. He left as the school’s all-time leader in career points (1,242), rebounds (755) and blocked shots (244). Hill then played at the University of Texas from 2006-11, where he was teammates with several current NBA players, including Kevin Durant, Avery Bradley, Cory Joseph, Tristan Thompson and current Magic guard D.J. Augustin. During his senior campaign (2010-11), he served as team captain and appeared in all 36 games (two starts).
A native of Lincoln, Neb., Hill has a bachelor’s degree in corporate communications from the University of Texas. He was named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
A 25-year NBA coaching veteran, Randy Wittman was named consultant for the Orlando Magic in September 2017. Wittman has served as head coach with Cleveland (1999-01), Minnesota (2006-09) and Washington (2011-16), compiling a record of 278-406 (.406). While at Washington, he guided the Wizards to the Eastern Conference Semifinals twice (2013-14 and 2014-15).
This marks Wittman’s second stop in Orlando. He served as an assistant coach under Brian Hill during the 2005-06 season. Wittman has also been an assistant coach with Indiana (1992-93), Dallas (1993-94), Minnesota (1994-99, 2001-05) and Washington (2009-11).
Originally selected in the first round (22nd overall) by Washington in the 1983 NBA Draft, Wittman played nine seasons in the NBA. He appeared in 543 career regular season games with Atlanta, Sacramento and Indiana, averaging 7.4 ppg., 2.2 apg. and 1.4 rpg. in 21.4 minpg., while shooting .501 from the field.
Wittman was a two-time academic All-American while at Indiana University. He helped the Hoosiers capture the 1981 NCAA Championship and was named co-Big Ten Player of the Year as a senior in 1983. Wittman was inducted into the IU Hall of Fame in 1995 and was named to Indiana’s Silver Anniversary Basketball Team in March of 1996.
Wittman and his wife, Kathy, have two children, Ryan, a former standout for Cornell’s basketball team, and Lauren, a graduate of Indiana University.