Dominic Cheek, the immensely talented 6-foot-5 wing from St. Anthony of Jersey City, has narrowed his list of colleges and begun to plan his visits.
I just got off the phone with St. Anthony associate head coach Ben Gamble and here’s the deal: Wake Forest , Tennessee and UConn have been eliminated from Cheek’s list.
He plans to visit Kansas, Memphis, Indiana, Villanova and Pittsburgh, and Seton Hall and Rutgers are still in the mix for potential unofficial visits.
“We’re going to go to Kansas on the 17th (of October),” Gamble said. Cheek will be at “Late Night in the Phog” along with a slew of other talented recruits, including Xavier Henry, Harrison Barnes, Elijah Johnson, Perry Ellis, Michael Snaer, Daniel Orton, Bradley Beal, Ray McCallum and potentially Lance Stephenson.
After the Kansas visit, Cheek would like to visit Memphis the weekend of Oct. 24.
“We want to try to get him down to Memphis the weekend of the 24th,” Gamble said. “We don’t want it to interfere with Eddie Griffin.” The annual Eddie Griffin Challenge takes place Oct. 26 at the Rutgers Barn, so Cheek could potentially visit Memphis that Friday and/or Saturday.
In addition to Kansas and Memphis, Gamble said Cheek is “interested in going to Indiana, Villanova and Pittsburgh.”
Gamble added that “he’ll be eligible to receive a scholarship” at Indiana in 2009. Former St. Anthony star Roshown McLeod, the older brother of St. Anthony guard Devon McLeod, is an assistant under Tom Crean at Indiana.
As far as Seton Hall and Rutgers, Gamble said: “Some of the hometown teams are still in the mix, Seton Hall and Rutgers.” Because of their proximity, Cheek could always take an unofficial there.
Cheek had long said Kansas, Villanova and Wake Forest had been with him since “Day One,” yet it appears Wake is now out of the picture.
“He’s no longer interested in Wake Forest,” Gamble said.
As for Connecticut, Gamble said, “I think UConn is out.”
Tennessee had also been mentioned for a possible visit, but that school’s coaches never made an in-home visit.
Gamble will keep me posted when other visit dates get set. He said Cheek is looking forward to ending the process relatively soon and picking a school.
“We’ve been talking extensively about these particular schools,” Gamble said. “I think he wants to get it settled.”
