LOCAL D’MOI HODGE AWARDED DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL SEASON

British Virgin Islander D’Moi Hodge has been awarded as the Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the all-league first team in the Horizon League.

Hodge averaged 2.3 steals per game for his Cleveland State men’s basketball team which led the Horizon League standings.

That average also saw Hodge ranking 13th in the United States of America.

Hodge has now become the second straight Cleveland State Vikings player to earn the league’s top defensive honor following his teammate Tre Gomillion who won the award in 2021. Gomillion and fellow senior Deante Johnson joined Hodge on the Horizon League All-Defensive team.

Hodge’s Vikings team finished near the top of the league in defensive field goal percentage as he ranked ninth in the U.S with 64 steals. He has now become the fourth Vikings player to earn the league’s top individual defensive honour.

He also led the top-seeded Vikings in scoring at 15.7 points, including a pair of 31-point efforts. Hodge shot 48.8 percent from the floor and connected on 2.0 shots from three-point range per game.