INDIANA, Pa. –– Josh Hill, a 2016 graduate of IUP and an Indiana County native, is returning home as the Director of Strategic Communications and Ideation for his alma mater's athletics department. 

He begins the new post on September 20, 2022. 

Hill, a native of Homer City, is currently the Assistant Athletics Director for Athletics Communications at Stevenson University, in Owings Mills, Maryland. 

"I am thrilled to be returning home to IUP," Hill said. "I look forward to working with the department staff, student-athletes, and broader campus community in finding creative and innovative ways to promote the university." 

Hill replaces Ryan Rebholz, who left IUP in July for a position outside athletics. 

"There is no shortage of work ahead in filling the vacancy left by Ryan Rebholz, who did an outstanding job in taking the promotion and publicity of IUP Athletics to impressive heights," Hill said. 

Hill will be responsible for creating online content for IUP's 21 athletic teams, which includes game coverage and statistics, social media postings, and updates to the IUP Athletics website. 

"We are excited to welcome back Josh to IUP," said Todd Garzarelli, the director of athletics. "Josh brings enthusiasm and expertise to this position, and we know his work will benefit our student-athletes, our coaches, our programs, and our university in many ways. He has a passion for IUP that's evident when you meet him. I look forward to working with Josh and I know our department will, too." 

At Stevenson, Hill oversees the day-to-day operations of the athletics communications office, which includes providing information and coverage of 29 men's and women's teams in the school's NCAA Division III athletics department. 

Before arriving at Stevenson in 2021, Hill was the assistant athletics director for external relations at Davis & Elkins College, in Elkins, West Virginia, for two years. In that position, he handled sports information duties as well as game management and operational aspects of D&E's 24 athletics teams. 

Hill spent a year at PSAC school Gannon as the assistant director of athletics media relations, and he held the same post for two years at Frostburg (Maryland) State, which he gained immediately after graduating from IUP in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in communications media with a minor in sport management. 

During his time at IUP, Hill worked for the student-run station, IUP-TV, as a broadcaster and producer, which included play-by-play work for IUP's football and basketball teams. He also worked at The Penn and was a student worker for Rebholz in IUP Athletics. 

He also interned for ROOT Sports Pittsburgh (now AT&T SportsNet) in 2016, assisting with the broadcast of Pittsburgh Pirates and Penguins games and other regional and national sporting events.