Cheek Made Unofficial Visit to ‘Nova
August 31, 2008 · Filed Under Recruiting
It’s a fairly quiet Labor Day weekend so here’s some small news to keep your interest in ‘Nova Hoops high… Adam Zagoria is reporting that Dominic Cheek from St. Anthony’s in Jersey City, NJ made a[nother] unofficial visit to the Villanova Campus last weekend.
Cheek is ranked #16 in the Class of 2009 and the #6 Shooting Guard.
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8 Responses to “Cheek Made Unofficial Visit to ‘Nova”
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I have a good feeling about Cheek … then Aaric Murray … then the Fab Five will be complete.
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Cheeks second visit in like the last 2 months that bodes well for a recruiter like Jay.
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Ah the anticipation is too much. When do most of the top players make their commitments? I hope he doesn’t pull a Tyreke Evans stunt…
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Cheek 2 Nova by end of week
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That’s a bold statement but it would be very nice if Cheek picked Nova soon
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Do you have sources to back that statement?
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Just an anonymous comment…
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New Jersey artical mentions with extensive coverage of Cheek and Winans
Dominic Cheek, Jerseyans excel in all-star basketball game in Harlem
Sunday, August 24, 2008
BY COLIN STEPHENSON
Star-Ledger Staff
There was a point, early in the second half of the Boost Mobile Elite 24 all-star basketball game at legendary Rucker Park in Harlem on Friday night, when the standing-room-only crowd ringing the court roared every time Dominic Cheek got his hands on the ball.
Cheek, the 6-5 senior guard from St. Anthony of Jersey City, was in the midst of an intriguing one-on-one battle with the crowd favorite, 6-5 guard Lance Stephenson, of Brooklyn’s Lincoln High. Cheek would step up to guard Stephenson — universally acknowledged as the best high schooler in New York and considered by some the top player in the country — one-on-one, and after Stephenson would manage to score a tough basket, Cheek would immediately take the inbounds pass, drive down the court and score a bucket of his own.
The crowd was loving it.
“I didn’t mean for that to happen, but it happened,” Cheek said of his mano a mano, game-within-the-game battle against Stephenson. “They wanted somebody to go back and forth with him — they wanted to see something.”
And Cheek showed them something, all right. While Stephenson would lead all scorers in the game, with 29 points, Cheek would more than hold his own. He scored 23 — plus seven rebounds and three steals — to lead his Blue, Skip to My Lou team over Stephenson’s White, The Goat team, 135-121, in a showcase of some of the top high school players in the country.
Cheek and point guard John Wall of Word of God in Raleigh, N.C. — the No. 1 rated senior in the country, according to Rivals.com — were named co-MVPs for the winning team, while Stephenson and point guard Maalik Wayns (Roman Catholic, Philadelphia) were MVPs for the losing side.
If there was nothing to be proven in an up-and-down, no-defense exhibition played with college coaches barred from attendance, Cheek proved this much: New Jersey’s best players can ball with anybody. New York may be considered the Mecca of basketball, but New Jersey had more players in the game (four) than did New York (three). And Cheek showed himself to be the equal of the great Stephenson on his home turf.
“Dominic Cheek is a good player,” said Stephenson. “He’s got a good jumpshot; goes to the hole real good, and I think he’s got a good future.”
“He’s the King of New York, so I had to come out here and play him,” Cheek said of Stephenson. “I represented for Jersey.”
So did Dexter Strickland of St. Patrick of Elizabeth, who was the only player — along with Stephenson — to play in each of the Boost Mobile showcases since its inception in 2006. Strickland won the inaugural dunk competition, and then scored 17 points in the game for the White team.
“It’s the first time somebody else other than me is from Jersey (in the game), and it’s a big thing,” said Strickland, a senior who is headed to North Carolina. “You have all the top players from all around the country, we got one person from Jersey. But this year we got a couple kids, so that’s good.”
Junior guard Dion Waiters, of Life Center Academy, in Burlington, came off the bench to score eight points in the game, while 6-9 Tristan Thompson, of St. Benedict’s Prep was one of the few players to attempt to play any defense. He blocked two shots, grabbed two rebounds and scored four points.
“Because the competition’s so good, you get scored on,” Thompson, a junior who has verbally committed to Texas, said. “I’m not trying to have that happen. I was trying to be a defensive presence, trying to help my team.”
The four players from New Jersey tied North Carolina for the most of any state represented in the game. New York and Washington state each had three. Tony Wroten, Jr., of Seattle, is a cousin of Knicks guard Nate Robinson, who attended the game.
Played at the renowned playground where so many all-time greats have performed, the game was broadcast live on ESPNU and will be rebroadcast tomorrow at midnight on ESPN2.
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Colin Stephenson may be reached
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at cstephenson@starledger.com
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