Cleo Hill
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Cleo Hill (April 24, 1938 – August 10, 2015) was an American professional basketball player who was selected by the St. Louis Hawks in the first round (8th overall) of the 1961 NBA draft. A Script error: No such module "convert". guard from Newark, New Jersey and the Winston-Salem State University, Hill played in the National Basketball Association for one season with the Hawks, in 1961–62, averaging 5.5 points in 58 games. Hill was only the fifth African-American from an historically Black college and university to be taken in the first round of an NBA draft.
In 2008, Hill was profiled in a segment on the ESPN documentary Black Magic, which told the story of African Americans and basketball. The segment asserted that early in that 1961–62 season, St. Louis Hawks coach Paul Seymour was told by team management to severely diminish Hill's offensive role so that stars Bob Pettit, Cliff Hagan, and Clyde Lovellette (who were all white) would receive more shot attempts. Seymour refused and was fired, and Hill's scoring averaged dropped from 10.8 points per game to 5.5 points per game. Hill never played in the NBA after that season.[1]
Hill had denied that his race was a factor in his NBA struggles, saying, "It wasn't racial. It was points." He went on to become a successful head coach at Essex County College in Newark, New Jersey.[1] A resident of Orange, New Jersey, Hill died at his home there on August 10, 2015.[2][3]
Legacy
The March 18, 2022 game at Wofford at The Basketball Classic was designated the Cleo Hill Game.[4] Due to scheduling issues the game was not played.
Hill Sr. is the father of current University of Maryland Eastern Shore men's basketball head coach, Cleo Hill Jr.
Career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
NBA
Source[5]
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961–62 | St. Louis | 58 | 18.1 | .346 | .774 | 3.1 | 2.0 | 5.5 |
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ a b Brad Parks. "Rebound from RacismTemplate:Category handler[<span title="Script error: No such module "string".">usurped]Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".". blackathlete.net. March 9, 2008. Retrieved on March 30, 2009.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Resolution In Memoriam of Cleo Hill, Essex County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders. Accessed December 4, 2017. "WHEREAS, Cleo Hill of Orange, New Jersey, passed from this life on Monday, August 10, 2015, at the age of 77;and WHEREAS, Cleo Hill was born and reared in Newark, New Jersey. He attended Eighteenth Avenue Elementary School, Cleveland Junior High School, and South Side (Shabazz) High School"
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
External links
- NBA stats @ basketballreference.com
Script error: No such module "Navbox".
- Pages with script errors
- 1938 births
- 2015 deaths
- American men's basketball players
- Basketball players from Newark, New Jersey
- Malcolm X Shabazz High School alumni
- New Haven Elms players
- Point guards
- Sportspeople from Orange, New Jersey
- Basketball players from Essex County, New Jersey
- St. Louis Hawks draft picks
- St. Louis Hawks players
- Trenton Colonials players
- Winston-Salem State Rams men's basketball players
- 20th-century African-American sportsmen
- 21st-century African-American sportsmen
- 20th-century American sportsmen