Pepperdine Athletic Chaplain Maurice Hilliard was found dead Monday morning on the beach around the 26000 block of Pacific Coast Highway. Officials attempted to administer CPR, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department homicide unit is handling the investigation.
Hilliard began working at Pepperdine in 2001. In addition to serving as the university’s athletic chaplain, he had also been assistant women’s basketball coach, the men’s basketball director of operations and an academic coordinator. He also served as program director for Pepperdine’s Boone Center for the Family since 2010.
Hilliard recently published a book called “The Price of a Pearl,” which discusses what he learned through teaching, coaching and mentoring young adults.