Brandon Cerezola has joined the Schreiner University Men’s Basketball staff as an assistant coach. Cerezola previously served as the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Hiwassee College (TN) where his team finished the season with the most successful season in the school’s 170 years.
Cerezola was named the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Hiwassee College at the age of 23, making him the youngest head coach in the nation. Under his helm, his team broke the record for most wins in a single season with an overall record of 22-7. He led Hiwassee to the NCCAA Division I National Tournament for the second time in program history as the No. 5 seed, which is the highest in program history. Hiwassee received votes in the national rankings throughout the season. Cerezola coached two 2nd Team All-Conference players and one Honorable Mention All-Conference player.
In the 2018-19 season, Cerezola’s group shattered numerous program records, including longest win streak (12), longest home win-streak (9), most points in a single game (102), most 3-pointers made in a single-game (14), most steals in a single-game (27), and most turnovers forced in a single-game (33). Also, his team ranked in the Top 10 nationally in thirteen different statistical categories, some of those including 3rd in Scoring Defense (58.3), 3rd in Margin of Victory (18.6), 6th in Scoring Offense (76.9), 2nd in Rebounding Margin (9.1), and 4th in both Turnover Margin (6.44) and Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.16).
Prior to Hiwassee College, Cerezola was the Graduate Assistant Men’s and Women’s Basketball Coach at Truett McConnell University in Cleveland, GA. On the men’s side for the 2017-18 season, he helped lead Truett McConnell to their best conference tournament finish in program history, falling in the AAC Tournament Championship to the defending national champions. The group finished the year with the best record in program history at 20-13, received votes in the NAIA Top 25 Polls for the first time in program history, and ranked 2nd in the NAIA in steals.
Cerezola worked with Christian Davis, who was named AAC Defensive Player of the Year, 1st Team All Conference, and ranked 1st in the NAIA in steals and 3rd in 3-pointers. Also, during his time at Truett McConnell, Myles Monroe was named to the All-Freshman Team.
A graduate of Truett McConnell University, Cerezola was a four-year member of the men’s basketball team. He is third all-time at Truett McConnell in single season 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 47% from beyond the arc. He was named to the NAIA Champions of Character Team, the AAC All Academic Team twice, and a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete.
Cerezola is a native of Peachtree City, GA.
https://schreinermountaineers.com/sports/mbkb/coaches/cerezola_brandon?view=bio
