According to Terry Toohey of the Delaware County Times, Villanova junior guard Dominic Cheek is considering leaving school a year early to put his name in for the NBA draft. While it has been suggested that Maalik Wayns has a chance to be drafted late in the second round, Cheek has received considerably-less buzz in NBA circles. A move to enter the draft would end Cheek's college eligibility and he would be most-likely to wind up abroad.
Statistically, Cheek was not much of a factor in his first two seasons at Villanova, but as a Junior he developed into the team's second-leading scorer at 12.5 points. He was a volumer-shooter, however, and did not make a high percentage from the perimeter — connecting on 39 percent from the floor and just 32 from beyond the arc. During the Big East season, Cheek was lapped as a go-to option by JayVaughn Pinkston.
Cheek was able to score big, but was inconsistent on offense during the season. Jay Wright blamed the number of offensive changes made during the season for preventing Cheek from getting into a rhythm.
Mike Kern of Philly.com has confirmed this story, but added that internet rumors suggesting that Mo Sutton would also leave Villanova to attend grad school elsewhere were baseless. Sutton will be a fifth-year senior next season and will either start or provide significant minutes off of the bench next season.
If Cheek opts to leave school a year early, the Wildcats will return 8 scholarship players and add at least two more freshmen in Ryan Arcidiacono and Daniel Ochefu for a total of 10 scholarships.
Jay Wright is currently out of town attending to recruiting business, and business may be good if Nova is interested in transfer players. According to Jeff Goodman, the list of Division I transfer releases is almost 200-strong this spring.
On another note, we have also heard that Maalik Wayns may be attending classes via Skype while he prepares for the NBA's pre-draft workouts.