MBB's Buscetto Receives 2022 Cleo Hill Award
NEW ORLEANS – Mitchell College's Mikey Buscetto is the recipient of the 2022 Cleo Hill award, presented annually to the player with the highest assist per-game average in all divisions of college basketball.
In his first season with the Mariners, Buscetto played in 25 games and made 23 starts while averaging 15.8 points and 8.4 assists per contest. He earned all-conference honors during the regular season and was named most outstanding player of the 2022 New England Collegiate Conference Championship, leading Mitchell to its third title and NCAA bid since 2014.
Buscetto finished the season with 210 total assists, just three shy of the school's single season record. He recorded double-digit assists seven times, including a game against Lesley University on January 27 in which he broke the program's single game record with 20. That single-game total was also the highest in all of NCAA men's basketball this season.
The Cleo Hill award is one of five new awards named after legendary HBCU players, which will highlight the top players in all levels of college basketball. The objective is to recognize the top student-athletes in college basketball, while bringing long overdue attention to some of the best players to ever play the game.
In four seasons at Winston-Salem Teachers College (1957-61), which is now known as Winston-Salem State, Cleo Hill averaged an impressive 25.4 points per game, making him the second-highest scorer in program history. Playing for the legendary Clarence "Big House" Gaines, Hill helped the Rams to consecutive Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association titles in his final two seasons. He was a two-time All-CIAA selection and named first-team NAIA All-American as a senior in 1961.
THE AWARD COMMITTEE
Kenny Blakeney (Howard)
Mike Boynton (Oklahoma State)
Jason Crafton (UMES)
Joe Dwyer (CollegeInsider.com)
Arthur Hightower (Los Angeles Chargers)
Cleo Hill, Jr. (Winston Salem State)
Donte' Jackson (Grambling)
James Jones (Yale)
Robert Jones (Norfolk State)
Jamie Kachmarik (Former NCAA Coach)
Angela Lento (CollegeInsider.com)
Eugene Marshall (Hampton)
Ryan Odom (Utah State)
David Patrick (Oklahoma) Kelvin Sampson (Houston)
Gary Stewart (Stevenson) Willis Wilson (Victory Sports)
Rich Zvosec (Central Florida)