Cleo Hill, Winston - Salem State

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The 6-1 guard played for Coach Clarence Gaines at Winston-Salem State from 1957-61 and is the school’s second all-time leading scorer behind Earl Monroe. Hill scored 2,488 points for a ppg average of 25.4 in a total of 98 games.  He averaged 27.7 ppg in 1959-60 and 26.7 ppg in 1960-61 to help the Rams claim consecutive Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) championships. In doing so, Hill earned all-CIAA honors for both seasons. Winston-Salem State posted records of 19-5 and 26-5 in those two seasons. In recognition of his senior-year performance, Hill earned NAIA first-team all-American honors in 1961. A member of the Winston-Salem State/Clarence “Big House” Gaines Athletic Hall of Fame, Hill also was inducted into the CIAA Hall of Fame in 1994.  In 1961 Hill became only the fifth African-American from a historically black college/university to be taken in the first round of an NBA draft.