Good luck Dom. That is a pretty below average college experience on the Main Line.

Let me translate what PaHoops just said .. “Wah wah wah .. wah wah wah”. Guess what jabroni, Dom’s coming to VU, while you’re still living at home with Mom and Dad.

Oh and don’t comment about Villanova’s college experience, unless you’ve actually experienced it. Sounds like the only experience you have is crying over VU’s success.

I have to agree with PaHoops… after watching the lack of development of ‘Nova’s current 5-star guards in comparison to KU and Self’s development of guards… there is really no comparison. Not to say that ‘Nova is a bad school, I just don’t think this is the best move for a guy like Cheek that needs some more work before he is NBA ready.

Sorry rogerwatkins93, at Villanova we view our student-athletes as more than just minor league prospects. If Cheek works hard, given his skill set, he’ll be in the league, whether he goes to Kansas, VU, or anywhere else – if that is what he so desires. There is a lot that goes into making a decision about where to go to school. Maybe he wants to stay close to home to play in front of his friends, family, and play with his good friend Maalik Wayns, hopefully learn a few things while he is there? I honestly don’t know. The myopic view that many individuals of why people make decisions they do combined with general arrogance about where one chooses to go to school for whatever reason often transgresses into all of our everyday actions. I honestly hope that when you make key decisions, whether in business or otherwise, that you look beyond the scope of just one aspect and see the bigger picture. Cheek made more than just a basketball decision – he is making a life decision.

Bottom line is, you aren’t one to judge whether going to Villanova was the best move for a kid.

You may have a “myopic” view if you don’t think that the goal of every top-25 recruit in the nation is to become the best basketball player they can be and go to the NBA. But I will admit that I am not looking at his entire picture, just my opinion of where he would develop the most as a basketball player.

Yea Jay Wright and Villanova doesn’t develop good guards at all…..except Randy Foye, Allan Ray, Kyle Lowry, Scottie Reynolds….

The recent 5 star recruits you refer to are 9 games into their Sophomore year. Kinda soon to call them failed developments, don’t you think?

Congrats to Nova. That’s one heckuva class. Good to see the Big East get guys like this.

Congrats to Jay Wright. That is one helluva class.

Funny how the title says Cheek to the BE.
Mr. Zagoria has a real tough time writing the word Villanova.

VuCat. You think that Scottie Reynolds has developed while at Nova? He came in as a McDonald’s All American and potential lottery pick. 3 years later he still has not developed PG skills and will be playing overseas like Allen Ray. Kyle Lowry was my favorite player ever at Nova. One of the toughest players around.

I do have to disagree and say I don’t think Scottie Reynolds was a lottery pick. I believe he was like a four star recruit rated near 100. But, I have to agree with you in that I believe Jay Wright does a terrible job developing talent. Reynolds I think has actually regressed since he has been at Nova. I don’t think Cory Fisher a 5star recruit has gotten any better in the past year and may also be worse. Lastly, Stokes a 5star recruit as well seems to shoot the ball well, but hasn’t really developed any other parts to his game. I really think Cheek would have done better at Kansas, Memphis, or Pitt. Memphis and Kansas are known for putting guys in the pros. And, Pitt hasn’t but they have had been awarded most improved player in the big east 5 out of the last 9 seasons. There is no doubt that Jamie Dixon develops talent, but just hasn’t had top level talent when they come in.

Hopefully Cheek does good but im a huge KU fan and this really hurts Self. We need a point/shooting guard.

Zags What do you think the chances are KU can land Lance or Wall?

Also PaHoops I agree with you, Wright always has good guards but never turn into outstanding. Lowry was a beast but if he didnt have the upperclassmen he never would have been as succesful.

a lot of nova bashing here. it doesnt fix the fact that KU still doesnt have a legit shooting guard for 2009.

you can’t argue that guards at villanova don’t develop under jay. the guards villanova has has had under jay (ray, foye) have all been ranked much lower coming out of high school than kansas guards such as mario chalmers or russell robinson. i mean foye was only a 4 star guard out of high school and is now having a great year in the nba, despite injuries all last year.

oh, and whats with adam not being able to say the word “Villanova” when mentioning Cheek? When interviewed for the documentary about Cheek’s life growing up, he just “failed” to mention Villanova as a possible school Cheek could goto, despite the fact they were the front runner in signing him. On the front page today, the headline reads “Cheek to the Big East”.

i wonder if he picked Kansas if the headline would say “Cheek to Kansas” or “Cheek to the Big 12?” What about Cheek to Rutgers? I bet this blog would be a very happy blog…

Most of the guards, recently, becoming stars in the NBA would have been stars had they gone to Memphis or Utah State…Did “Kansas St.” develop Michael Beasley? No, he was an NBA player regardless of where he went.

Most of the players who are drafted and are playing solid roles in the NBA will be out of the league in three years (those like Mario Chalmers, Chris Douglas Roberts, etc) and will be extremely successful in Europe for the rest of their careers.

The NBA is a tough league to get into…and Jay has shown with top talent, he can get them to the league when he gets top talent and top talent works hard on defense

Thought it was pretty odd Zagoria didn’t mention Villanova in the documentary piece as well, now the “Cheek to Big East” headline ? Seems like he’s a homer for Rutgers rather than an objective basketball journalist. In any event, this is a great development for Villanova, the best class they’ve ever gotten, at least on paper.

Gives Zags a break guys. Having someone like him that is so connected to this scene is good for VU. Once Zags posted this, I and everyone else knew it was a done deal. If it was a Nova homer, we still might even be sweating it out up until 6 P.M. tonight. Anyone know of the TV coverage for the press conf?

I can’t believe people are complaining that he didn’t write the word Villanova in the title. The whole article is about Nova.

Sam has given the only worthwhile analysis here. Please I encourage everyone to read his comments.

Someone help me understand who Self has turned into a pro? And why does Jay Wright get zero credit for SPEEDY CLAXTON and RANDY FOYE?

Outside of Derrick Rose, what has Calipari done at Memphis? Does he get credit for developing someone he spent about 6 months working on? Give me a break… some players don’t need any development and are just ready for the NBA game right out of high school; how naive are you all? What NBA-ready prospect (body and skill-set) has Jay Wright received that we can falsely give him credit for? Exactly.

And how about Kyle Lowry… how many thought he’d get drafted in the 1st round when he left after his sophomore year? And of those who thought that, how many thought he’d be able to log as many useful minutes as he did into his rookie campaign (albeit before injury)? Most experts figured he was a project, possibly needing seasoning in the NBDL. Looks like his time at Nova got him ready for the NBA game, hmm?

Since Self moved into a BCS school with Illinois in 2001… he has coached NBA players/draftees…. Frankie Williams, James Augustine, Robert Archibald, Deron Williams, Luther Head, Dee Brown, Julian Wright, Brandon Rush, Wayne Simeon, Mario Chalmers, Darrel Arthur, Sasha Kahn, Darnell Jackson… soon to be Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich..

Hard to really put Deron Williams under Self, but I’ll even give that to you even though Deron’s best work was with Self gone. However I’ll say he helped lead to that development.

And it’s comical with some of the players you name as successes with Self. Allan Ray, Mike Nardi and Curtis Sumpter are being belittled for playing professionally overseas. However, you are applauding Self for:

1. Sasha Kahn (Russia)
2. Dee Brown (barely adequate in the NBA, went to Turkey, no longer even playing basketball as far as I can tell… exactly the type of college guard that Wright has had to work with at Nova)
3. Frankie Williams (same story as Dee Brown really, but credit for Self making him Big 10 POY)
4. James Augustine (needed the NBDL despite being 6′10″…. solid. Another player that was only partially molded by Self).
5. Robert Archibald (all I remember is he was HUGE, yet I don’t even know if he played any minutes in the NBA)
6. Luther Head (finally a legit NBA talent! but again, was this really Bill Self’s doing?)
7. Julian Wright (too early to tell his fate, but fine.. good job Self)
8. Brandon Rush (ANY coach could’ve achieved this for him)
9. Wayne Simeon (same story as most of these guys.. another NBA body who couldn’t stay on an NBA roster)

I give Self credit for Chalmers, Arthur, and Jackson. 50% credit for Williams and Head.

If you want to even MENTION any of the other guys as benefitting from playing for Self and being successful, you need to say the same about Jay Wright and his players that play professionally overseas (in fact Ray asked to be waived from the Celtics so he could collect a nice payday from an Italian team). And again, how many NBA bodies has Jay even had to mold into a star? Not many.

Respect the man. Judge him after this upcoming class.

When you look at the type of recruits that Self has had to work with, you cannot argue that he hasn’t had the better players to begin with. Most of those guys you mentioned (who actually logged real minutes in the League) would have made it no matter where they went. And I could make a list of a bunch of blue chippers who didn’t develop under Self, but I could care less.

What this is really about is that Dom Cheek is coming to Nova!! And with the talent already on the roster and the rest of the 09 recruiting class, things are looking good.

And Wright has done a good job developing his players, getting them ready for the next level, in both life and basketball. Some players get it together and some don’t. I personally think Jay has done great with what he has had to work with. As for the current kids, it took Foye and the rest of that class until their junior year to really get it together, and I have faith that Fisher and Stokes will be fine.

Props to Zags for breaking the story. You def heard it here first.

Go Dom!!! Go Cats!!!

Jay continues to kill it on the recruting trail. That’s 3 top 25 players (Cheek, Yarou, Wayns) and a top 50-75 player (Armwood) for the class of 2009. After 3 NIT berths to start his coaching career at Nova, Jay has led this program to 4 straight NCAA Tournaments, 3 of which resulted in trips to the Sweet 16 (1 appearance in the Elite Eight). Combine that with the fact that Nova is bringing in one of the top recruiting classes in the country in 2009, and it’s looking more and more like Jay Wright has led Villanova from obscurity to national prominence.

Cheek seems like a great kid and I think Villanova is the perfect fit for him.