Bio

Cleo Hill - Essex County College Head Men’s Basketball Coach - 1971 – 1995 | Athletic Director - 1984 – 1995

NJCAA Service Award - 2015

Coach Hill Coaching Accomplishments: 24 Years of Coaching at Essex County College

• Three Region XIX Coach of the Year
• Eleven Garden State Athletic Conference titles
• Two Inter-Regional Championships
• Three NJCAA appearances
• Two New Jersey College Basketball Coaches’ Association Coach of the Year
• Four Christmas Classic Championships
• One undefeated regular season 1981-82
• Coaching record - 489 wins 128 loses
• Most points scored in a NJCAA game
  • January 19^th, 1974 – Essex (210) vs Englewood Cliffs (67)

Coach Hill Basketball Accomplishments:

• Acclaimed as one of the best basketball players in high school (Malcolm X Shabazz High School)
• Winston-Salem State Teachers College 1957-1961
  • Scored 2,488 points – Second leading scorer
• Two Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association (CIAA) Titles
• One District Title
• Drafted #8 1^st Round 1961 by the St. Louis Hawks
• St. Louis Hawks/NBA Rookie Record – Scored 26 points
• Named to All-NBA Rookie Team
• Washington Tapers (1962-63) Trenton Colonials (1963-65) (American Basketball League)
• New Haven Elms 1965-67) & Scranton Miners (1967-68) (Continental Basketball League)

Coach Hill Inductions/Awards:

• South Side High School & Malcom X Shabazz High School Hall of Fame
• Winston-Salem State University Hall of Fame
• Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association (CIAA) Hall of Fame
• National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
• Newark Athletic Hall of Fame
• Holcombe Rucker Professionals Hall of Fame
• 2022 Essex County College names & PEB Building after him “Cleo Hill Sr. Physical Education Building”
• Essex County College Athletic Hall of Fame
• Region 19 Hall of Fame
• 2008 ESPN documentary “Black Magic” features Cleo Hill on his NBA career