Cierra “Cece” Hooks (born May 30, 1999) is an American basketball player who is currently a free agent. She played college basketball with the Ohio Bobcats of the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

Cece Hooks
Personal information
Born (1999-05-30) May 30, 1999 (age 25)
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Career information
High schoolThurgood Marshall
(Dayton, Ohio)
CollegeOhio (2017–2022)
PositionPoint guard
Career highlights and awards
  • MAC Player of the Year (2021)
  • 4× First-team All-MAC (2019–2022)
  • Third-team All-MAC (2018)
  • 4× MAC Defensive Player of the Year (2019–2022)
  • 5× MAC All-Defensive Team (2018–2022)
  • MAC Freshman of the Year (2018)
  • MAC All-Freshman Team (2018)
  • All-American Honerable Mention (2021)

High school career

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Hooks grew up in Dayton, Ohio, where she attended and played basketball at Thurgood Marshall High School. During her sophomore year she was considered a likely top 30 recruit but missed much of the year with a torn meniscus.[1] She worked her way back to average 17 points, 12 rebounds and five assists per game her senior year. She also played AAU basketball for All Ohio Black. She was rated as a four-star recruit by Prospects Nation.[2] She took one visit to Ohio University and committed.[1]

College career

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Hooks played in 30 games and averaged 13.5 points as a freshman.[3] She scored 406 points which was the second most for a freshman in Ohio history and her 100 steals were a program record at the time.[2] After the season she was named to the MAC All-Freshman Team, All-MAC Third Team and MAC Freshman of the Year.[4]

Her sophomore season saw her average 18.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.1 steals and 3.1 assists in 36 games as the point guard for an Ohio team that won 30 games.[3] She broke her own program record for single-season steals with 112 and her 251 field goals was also a school record.[2] She was named All-MAC first team and won her first MAC Defensive Player of the Year.[5]

As a junior she averaged 17.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.7 steals and 3.4 assists per game.[3] Her 106 steals led the MAC and were fifth in the county.[2] In a loss to Akron on February 22 she tied the school record with 41 points and was 17 for 26 from the field.[6] She was again named All-MAC first team and won her second MAC Defensive Player of the Year.[7]

During a senior season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, she averaged 25.1 points per game, good for third in the country, and was an honorable-mention All-American.[1] She also led her team in rebounds, steals and assists.[2] In the second game of the season she led Ohio with 32 points in an upset of national power Notre Dame.[8] On March 6, against rival Miami, she notched only the second triple double in program history.[9] She had 31 points on 14 of 19 shooting with 11 assists, 10 steals and four rebounds.[10] She was named All-MAC first team and MAC Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive year and also won MAC Player of the Year.[11]

After her senior season Hooks declared for the 2021 WNBA draft.[12] However, she removed her name and returned to the Bobcats for a fifth season as allowed by a temporary rule change as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.[13][14] Prior to the season she was added to the Naismith watch list for National Player of the year and the Hammon watch list for mid-major player of the year.[15][16] On January 30, in a win at Central Michigan, she scored 30 points and surpassed Caroline Mast as the leading scorer in Ohio basketball history.[17] Two games later, against Bowling Green, she passed Toledo's Kim Knuth as the leading scorer in MAC basketball history.[18][19] She was named All-MAC first team and MAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year.[20] She is the only four time defensive player of the year in MAC basketball history. She finished her career 23rd in NCAA history in career points and 5th all-time in career steals.[21]

Professional career

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On April 13, 2022, she signed with the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA.[21] On April 28, Minnesota released her.[22]

Career statistics

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Legend
  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

College

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2017–18 Ohio 30 0 25.0 .471 .120 .600 4.8 1.8 3.3 0.4 13.5
2018–19 Ohio 36 5 29.1 .491 .232 .615 5.1 4.1 3.1 0.6 17.7
2019–20 Ohio 29 29 30.9 .452 .240 .598 5.4 3.4 3.7 0.6 18.2
2020–21 Ohio 25 22 34.4 .484 .235 .648 6.6 4.0 3.8 0.6 25.1
2021–22 Ohio 29 29 37.3 .462 .297 .565 8.4 3.8 2.9 0.6 22.3
Career 149 85 31.1 .472 .240 .603 6.0 3.4 3.3 0.6 19.1

Source:[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Archdeacon: Dayton Strong in sneakers". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  2. ^ a b c d e "CECE HOOKS". Ohio University Athletics. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  3. ^ a b c d "CECE HOOKS". ESPN. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  4. ^ "Hooks named MAC Freshman of the year". Athens Messenger. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  5. ^ "WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 2019 ALL-CONFERENCE AWARDS". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  6. ^ "Hooks and Bussell Named MAC WBB Players of the Week". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  7. ^ "MAC Announces 2020 Women's Basketball Postseason Awards". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  8. ^ "Ohio women's team beats #22 Notre Dame". WSAZ. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  9. ^ "Ohio Women's Basketball: Hooks Records Triple-Double as Ohio Dominates Miami (OH)". WOUB. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  10. ^ "Ohio 85 Miami 70 Boxscore". ESPN. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  11. ^ "Ohio's Cece Hooks named MAC women's basketball Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  12. ^ "WNBA Announces Players Who Have Opted-In for Consideration for 2021 WNBA Draft Presented By State Farm". WNBA. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  13. ^ "Dallas Wings control WNBA draft with top two picks". WTNH. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  14. ^ "What Does the NCAA Extra Year of Eligibility Mean for Recruiting?". NCAA. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  15. ^ "Cece Hooks Named To 2022 Women's Naismith Player of the Year Trophy Watch List". Ohio University Athletics. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  16. ^ "Three Named To 2022 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award Watch List". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  17. ^ "Happy and Humble: Cece Hooks shatters OHIO and MAC basketball scoring records". Ohio University. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  18. ^ "Women's Basketball: Cece Hooks shatters Mid-American Conference all-time scoring record against Bowling Green". The Post. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  19. ^ "Women's Basketball: Cece Hooks becomes Mid-American Conference all-time leading scorer". The Post. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  20. ^ "2021-22 MAC Women's Basketball Postseason Awards Announced". Mid-American Conference. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  21. ^ a b "Cece Hooks Signs With Minnesota Lynx". Ohio University Athletics. Retrieved 2022-04-29.
  22. ^ "Minnesota Lynx Waive Cece Hooks". Our Sports Central. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
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