CHEEK WILL PICK VILLANOVA
posted by Pete @ LetsGoNova.com12/12/2008 01:21:00 AM
Dominic Cheek is expected to announce at a Friday press conference in Jersey City that he will play for Villanova and not Kansas, according to multiple sources close to the situation.
Update: Sports Illustrated is now also reporting that Cheek will choose Villanova.
Cheek, a 6-5 shooting guard, is one of the top overall players in his class, and is the capstone to what now can safely be called the Greatest Villanova Recruiting Class ever.
Cheek joins top-5 point guard Maalik Wayns, top-5 power forward Mouph Yarou, and top-15 forward Isiah Armwood in what will likely be the consensus best recruiting class in the nation.
Add in Duke transfer Taylor King -- himself an All-American and a redshirt sophomore -- and a likely redshirt freshman, the 6-10 Maurice Sutton, and six new players could all see significant playing time for Villanova next year.
As of right now, high school All-American guards Scottie Reynolds and Corey Stokes are set to return, as is star-recruit Corey Fisher. Antonio Pena is due back in Nova's front court. Villanova will lose seniors Frank Tchuisi, Shane Clark, Dante Cunningham, and Dwayne Anderson next season. Guard Reggie Redding is also set to return.
The arrival of Cheek and next year's class transforms 'Nova from a bubble team to an instant national title contender. College basketball has been increasingly dominated by young 5-star-recruits, and Villanova will have plenty of them. Barring any transfers (which are, admittedly, a possibility given Jay Wright's recent track record), Villanova will not only have firepower but will also possess excellent depth, which is another mark of a team primed to make a serious tournament run.
Cheek will hold his press conference on Friday afternoon, at about 6 p.m. (Eastern).
Labels: 2009-2010, Dom Cheek, dominic cheek, Jay Wright, recruiting, transfers
47 Comments:
this is a great day for all.
I heard that he wants to go to Villanova, but his coach wants Kansas... so lets not celebrate prematurely. Bob Hurley might still convince him otherwise.
We're a title contender on paper if it happens.
Then all that is needed is a lot of hard work & a little bit of luck!
i have to think he wouldnt publish this info if he was wrong.
woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo\
"given Jay Wright's recent track record"...I seriously do not like this site anymore.
I would recommend to everyone here that they visit vuhoops.com from here on out and ignore this site. Pete sucks and makes fucktarded statements on the regular (like Corey Fisher has not developed a jump shot because Jay has not given him one yet...check the St. Joes blog, he actually says this).
Pete is miserable and has managed to alienate myself and 5 Nova friends as regular visitors this year. This site has become a poor representation of Villanova FANS, which I emphasize because you often mention journalist integrity as reason to harshly criticize. The thing is, it is a Nova fan blog correct? Find the joy in the team you fuck. Get excited because they beat St. Joes. Remember when Duke almost lost to URI...I bet Duke fans were not blogging that Coach K was one of the worst coaches in basketball. This Nova team is not an elite team because the talent is not elite. It just isn't. Not a single player out there is NBA ready nor do I know if any ever will be. Fisher needs a jumpshot, Scottie just doesn't have the athleticism needed, Dante ain't big enough, and Stokes (most probable to make NBA jump) needs to work on a better all around game but he is getting there. To be the team you seem to think they should be this year, a team needs NBA ready players. You seem sure that 100 plus coaches could come into this team and make them substantially better and will Fisher/Reynolds into NBA players. Does Donovan suck because his team isn't ranked even though there team has higher level recruits than Nova? Does Calhoun suck because his team has taken a long time to come together with way more talent than Nova? Is Barnes terrible because AJ Abrams took 4 years to become awesome...or is Barnes awesome because Augustin was good a shooting 3's? Is Roy Williams a great coach because he gets freaking ridiculous recruits every single season (Nova's 09 class is an every year thing for him)? Recruiting is 95% of the battle and in Jay We Trust.
As far as transfers goes...check all the best teams in the country and how many transfers they have had recently. They all have at least one a year...and since we are moving from an OK program to one of the best in the country, we have understandably lost a couple extra. 3 star players are transferring because they cannot find playing time on a team that is only bringing in 5 and 4 star recruits. Grant was the only one who showed promise...GET THE FUCK OVER IT. Some lazy/fat guy left (Drums), Andrew Ott (this is me caring), Bilal Benn (who does he play for?).
Find joy in the team you ass. I question the coach/players/refs all the time when I watch my favorite franchises play. Mike Shanahan seems incompetent sometimes, George Karl has little control over anything, Jay Wright should probably run offensive sets sometimes and work on inbounds plays (which are frightening right now). Then I remember D. Snow and Ricky Wright and I thank Jay that Nova is as good as they are. 3 sweet 16's in 4 years is awesome...#1 recruiting class of 09 is FREAKING FANTASTIC. Get excited douche.
OWNED!!!
"Somebody better get a bodybag...."
If this is true about Dom Cheek, I am really pumped up!!!!
And that is disturbing about Hurley if he is really steering players away from Nova. Is it just Cheek or does he have a problem with the program?
Not that I agree with everything he said, but wow.... best rant ever.
top recruiting class is i guess a sign of an "unstable" program.
Awesome comment Nardi Vacation, I could not agree with you more. Pete is a negative nancy, he can never be satisfied or happy. he gets off to the thought of having new recruits that we didnt get (like Tyreke) and continues to blow guys that left (see Malcolm Grant)....He is never satisfied and as a result becomes way too critical of a coach that continues to bring in great players and has reached the sweet 16 three times in the last 4 years.
Drink up Pete cause the glass is half full (of Malcolm Grants penis juice)
I never said Corey Fisher didn't have a jump shot... someone can't read properly!
I love how some people get their panties in a bunch over "negativity." So cute. It's called having opinions. This is an opinion and news site.
I also love how these people think that there is only room for one Villanova blog and that somehow I am afraid of "losing" readers to other sites. LGN was the very first Villanova blog on the Web, and I am glad there are four more now.
So in case anyone doesn't know, please visit Vuhoops.com, villanovabythennumbers.blogspot.com, ibleedblueandwhite.blogspot.com, and novanews.com. The more, the merrier.
Finally, I think it's pretty clear I am a fan of Villanova and the program. So I suggest to people who don't like any negative (read: honest) opinions, stick to the official Villanova PR site.
Now, let's get back to talking about Cheek, the biggest recruiting victory for Nova in years.
Haha, I would also like to add that I "blew" Malcolm Grant while he was here as well.
Whenever you put yourself out there and state your opinions, you're going to have people disagree with you.
I guarantee that if all the people complaining about "negativity" ran a blog where they stated their opinion every day, they would have people complaining about them.
So if you really think I am negative, then use this site as a resource -- "What does someone who didn't drink the Jay Wright Kool Aid think?" Ok?
Cheek's conference should get underway at around 6 p.m. Anyone know if it will be televised? Perhaps ESPNU?
One last comment... because I just skimmed your "rant."
You say "In Jay We Trust." If that's the attitude you want, you're definitely at the wrong site. I don't blindly trust Jay Wright, and I don't think most Nova fans do. We root for Jay and the 'Cats to succeed, but I don't trust Jay on faith, no matter what. It is OK to question a head coach's moves. It is OK to list what you feel are his weaknesses (and strengths).
Fair enough. I will view this site as a Nova fan's site who hate's Jay Wright but enjoys that he brings recruits in. Not that it matters, but that does not sound interesting to me in slightest. Today I simply enjoy arguing with you because Great Depression 2 is coming into full swing which makes my job quite boring and gives me time to comment on blogs. I also really just want to hear this so called Nova fan say something positive about the team...and not just tear them down. I can bitch about Jay anywhere (and I do, he is not perfect by any stretch), I just happen to notice the awesomeness that comes with the faults. You (seemingly because of Grant) can no longer see this and never mention it and it is just freakin weird to me.
To the responses... you should work on defending yourself Pete. I realize you don’t care and just want to say everyone who dislikes your negativity (which if you haven’t noticed is a lot of people lately) is to sensitive to someone who just speaks there mind and reports it as he sees it. But that would be dumb to think that…we simply think you are often wrong and harp on the same thing over and over and over again.
Picking out "In Jay We Trust" as your defense? A paragraph below there are criticisms (while not explained in detail) of Jay. There is no blind acceptance here (atheist my friend). I was questioning Jay's offensive philosophy while they were scrambling to the elite 8. The point was you focus 95% on why Jay sucks...and 5% on why he is good.
I did not read your blog correctly? Did I copy/paste verbatim, no, but you said Jay was responsible for Fishers lack of development. Well his development rides on not shooting 20% from the field. 6 ft and not able to shoot rarely transitions into an elite player. He is 6 feet tall and CAN NOT SHOOT right now. You have to be insanely good with the ball and unbelievably quick to be a useful 6 footer without a jump shot. He has to be able to pull up and give the other teams reason to care when he is outside the box.
No recognition of the fact that the team is in all likely-hood just playing about where they should be right now? You really cannot see this? You seem very sure it is Jay's subbing, development, defensive and offensive plays, practice drills, etc. that are keeping this team from reaching the next level? They aren't just teetering around good and pretty good because that's what they are? The hodge-podge of players do not look like an elite team to me…unless Fisher/Stokes/Scottie can play together at a high level the team
And please respond to the instability comment, because you are going Malcolm Grant on that thing. Seriously, check transfer rates for the best schools. It is just what happens, and the transition from 3 star to 5 star recruits is just slightly amplifying it. The stats are available online...and you can find almost every top 20 program on that list. Thank's for letting me rant...and say hello to your mother for me.
Wow...those are really long rants. If I had not wrote them I would probably not read them. I clearly have not the short and concise thing.
What happened to the other writers on this site? You know the ones that were not always negative like pete and wrote great articles....?
I agree that Pete can be negative at times, but he is usually accurate. Two years ago we were all saying that THIS YEAR was the championship year, and the program has not really distinguished itself. If you say "IN JAY WE TRUST," then you clearly know nothing about the game of basketball, because there were numerous coaching errors that he made v.s. St. Joes that Pete accurately pointed out. Congratulations on your rant, nice and long, but come on.
As for Cheek, its on MSG for all of you NJ and NY people.
Wow, you're so tricky whoever you are, voting no 5 times in the poll.
Oh, my, even in this post you manage to find a way to take an (undeserved) swipe at Jay Wright. You have crossed over the line from a bit of a crank on the issue to full blown delusional. Please seek help.
It's a shame, this was once one of my first stops for VU hoops news, but not anymore, as your anti-Wright obsessions colors everything that you write.
Is it true that Pete's girlfriend uses Dante's Flying Elbows as her alias? Don't let her get away, Pete!
BTW, I just read that Dominic Cheek has enrolled in Malcolm Grant's Guard School.
Mike Nardi's European Vacation... while his language was a bit incendiary, it's hard to disagree with a single thing he said.
Blunt. Honest. Straight-forward. Realistic.
I only visit this blog to see the ugly side and be happy that I'm not as spoiled, uneducated, and unappreciative as Pete.
Go ahead and question anything you want, whine about anything you want, it's your right as a fan. But the way you go about doing it is terrible, especially when you actually name your blog "Let's Go Nova."
Let's go Nova?? Could've fooled me....
People may have thought that THIS year was the year we win the championship because we went on scouting reports of the prospects we were getting.
A recruit/prospect is just that. Scouting is not a science.
And like everyone else said already, none of us think Jay Wright is perfect. We may all hate his in-bound plays and some of his offensive sets, but the man knows what he's doing defensively and getting his team to play hard and rebound. We don't have a player over 6'8", yet we consistently out-rebound (or stay very close) to almost every team we play.
Is it too much to ask to give the man his due every now and then? Pete even takes his recruiting for GRANTed!!! Whoever he does recruit, leaves!!! The sky is falling!!!
Give me a break.
Once again... Let's go Nova? Hahahahaha, worst choice for your blog name
I will take back one thing I said - I will keep coming back here, but not for intelligent commentary. Rather, Pete's continuing meltdown has become grimly amusing.
But I'm probably a bad person for seeing it that way.
Pete,
I gotta disagree that there is any instability in the program as far as keeping recruits etc. Unstable programs do not land the likes of Malik and Dom.
I think you are a bit confused......wait, no...its got to be your bull....
pete has retreated to his bed where he is staring at his malcom grant poster pasted on his ceiling
maybe his thoughts and opinions arent quite consistent with the name "Lets go nova" but lets not be so harsh
I was harsh and used foul language...I apologize. But not really because Pete is a grown-up. Fucking deal with it.
Pete made correct obvious observations of bad things that happened during the St. Joe's game. Pure genius. Awe inspiring work. I was upset when Scottie air balled it 5 times, when they threw it out of bounds for no reason 10 times, or when they didn't foul at the end. Then they won and I was jumping around giving high fives to friends. My guess is Pete was sitting alone in the dark thinking of all the things that he could potentially blame on Jay.
I'm gonna go out and enjoy my Friday night now. Pete, if for nothing else, stop spreading retarded rumors because you are potentially hurting the reputation of the school. You are a FAN YOU STU......sorry I was about to rant again. You're a fan of one of the best programs in the country, act accordingly.
Site will be updated on Monday because I am spending all weekend sitting alone in the dark with my Malcolm Grant poster
Jay Wright is a great recruiter and a terrible coach. Live with it.
Jay is the furthest thing from a terrible coach. He is constantly coaching up lesser talent to compete with better players and you guys are tearing him up because St. Joe's was a close game?
Man, you guys got spoiled. Get off the bandwagon and make sure you don't break you leg jumping back on later.
How many games have we won because of great coaching? How many have we lost?
I had to record the game against St. Joe's and just watched it last night. Wow! What a game. It was obvious we didn't have our legs, but what a gutsy way to hang in there and come back for the win--running on fumes. Big contributions at key moments from Anderson and Redding, and Scottie and Dante gritted it out to the end.
Say what you want, we've got heart!
"Jay is the furthest thing from a terrible coach. He is constantly coaching up lesser talent to compete with better players and you guys are tearing him up because St. Joe's was a close game??"
Thats the dumbest shit I've ever read. Once Jay adds a second in bounds play to the constantly repeated 1 play that he has been using for the 3 years I've been here, then I will not call him one of the worst coaches in the Big East.
And how often in a game do Dante or Pena catch the ball in the post and kick out? Should be once a possession, instead its once a half.
And why the fuck didn't Stokes play in the second half?
I could only imagine how bad this team would be if it wasn't an hour away from NYC talent.
who caught tyreke evans suck it up in OT against GTown?! man, i wish he was a wildcat though...
We weren't even in Tyreke's final two.. it was memphis and texas
Cheek is the next Kerry Kittles.
Pete,
Seriously, the problem isn't that you criticize Wright. It isn't even mainly that you criticize him so harshly, though myself and many readers don't appreciate it.
It's that you feel SO strongly that your bitterness infuses everything that you write, and that many (not all) of your criticisms are devoid of even the most basic logic and fairness.
Clearly most of your readers have had enough of your Wright obsession. Sure, it's your blog, but as I see it you have 2 choices - cut down on the Wright bashing and return to what once made this such a good blog, or just turn it into a blog whose purpose is to bash Wright. This half of one thing, half of another, isn't working.
Pete: I must admit that the only reason I visit here is the same reason I would occasionally watch a few minutes of Jerry Springer ... to watch the freaks and the cat fights.
Well, you guys have done a great job of ruining this blog. The whole point of this blog was for Villanova basketball, and now Pete hasn't even given a preview for the LaSalle game. I don't blame him because you guys have been the harsh criticizers, not him. If you dont like what he says you can disagree, but there is no need to go on massive rants that ruin the whole blog, and ruin it for other people who simply come here to get informed on Nova hoops. You shouldn't even be here if you dont have anything useful to contribute to the conversations.
If the dude stopped blogging because he didnt like what his readers had to say, then he shouldnt be writing in the first place.. there is always vuhoops.com anyway.
I love this blog and I used to like the debate found in the comment section.
I like Pete's commentary, because I think it makes me a smarter Villanova fan. I rarely agree with him. I remember my days in the cheering section with Lappas leading the way...let's just say I worship Jay Wright. I usually like reading the comments, because the conversation expands my knowledge and makes me a better Villanova fan.
I'm not sure what happened recently, but the comments have become extremely negative and dumb. I read the blog to learn not to be part of some group-think cult. So keep up the good work Pete and the other people that contribute to the discussion.
My guess about the guy with long rants...it's finals and it's some stressed-out, procrastinating student. That or Father Donahue found out about your blog.
This blog has been pretty bad for awhile now. Has there even been 1 recap yet for this season?
Like the other comment above me, come here for the same reason you watch Jerry Springer (unless this blog gets back to its roots). In the meantime I suggest everyone go to:
1. vuhoops.com
2. vbtn.blogspot.com
3. villanovanews.blogspot.com
4. ibleedblueandwhite.blogspot.com
That's more than enough Nova info for everyone. If you want to track Malcolm Grant's career though, this should still be your #1 destination.
anon comment above -
i think the jerry springer reference about freaks was directed at you. i can understand your confusion though, all those long postings must have left you a bit frazzled.
Oh the days of finals stress...I wish. My stress comes from the industry which employees me being torn limb from limb.
I apologize for the rants...I just think this site is making Villanova and its fans look bad.
Good win tonight. Scottie looks off...struggling big time.
Thank you for all your comments, supportive or otherwise. Just to clarify:
1. I did not stop blogging. I have been traveling away from home since Thursday. Earlier in this comment thread this weekend I mentioned that the site would be updated Monday.
2. Negative comments about my blog really don't bother me. We're all just talking about a game here. It's fun to discuss and argue, but I would never let any disagreement about a basketball game get to me.
3. Sorry for the lack of recaps for past few games. Recaps are very time-intensive. I went to the Texas game and didn't get home till the next day. By the time I was free to write a recap, the SJU game was closer. Immediately after the SJU game, you had the Cheek announcement, and then I went away all of Thurs-Fri-Sat-Sun. I'll update what I can.
4. Whomever keeps pushing the URLs of other sites in this comment thread is truly funny. I link to all four other Villanova blogs nearly every post I make. Links to those sites appear on every LGN page. Each site has its strengths and weaknesses, and I don't consider any of us to be "competing" with one another. So -- a. everyone is well aware of the other four sites. and b. No one, least of all me, is shocked or saddened to see you promoting them.
I totally agree with Karl. It sounds like there are 3 or 4 self righteous whiners that keep writing long and annoying comments, and you're ruining this site far more than Pete ever could. And it's his blog so he can do what he wants anyway. What do you guys do, check this site every 10 minutes looking for another opportunity to post a comment to each other? Keep it about basketball and you won't annoy the rest of us as much. As for Pete, readers will always come and go, I usually agree with your comments but even when I don't, they're always informative so keep it up.
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