Calbert Cheaney
Washington Bullets | |||||||||||||||||||||
Playing career | 1993–2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Position | Shooting guard / small forward | ||||||||||||||||||||
Number | 40, 29 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Coaching career | 2013–present | ||||||||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||||||||
As player: | |||||||||||||||||||||
1993–1999 | Washington Bullets / Wizards | ||||||||||||||||||||
1999–2000 | Boston Celtics | ||||||||||||||||||||
2000–2002 | Denver Nuggets | ||||||||||||||||||||
2002–2003 | Utah Jazz | ||||||||||||||||||||
2003–2006 | Golden State Warriors | ||||||||||||||||||||
As coach: | |||||||||||||||||||||
2013–2016 | Saint Louis (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2018–2020 | Erie BayHawks / College Park Skyhawks (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2020-2023 | Indiana Pacers (Player development assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2023-present | Indiana (Director of player development) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Career NBA statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||
Points | 7,826 (9.5 ppg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Rebounds | 2,610 (3.2 rpg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Assists | 1,398 (1.7 apg) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stats at NBA.com | |||||||||||||||||||||
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medals
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Calbert Nathaniel Cheaney (born July 17, 1971) is an American
At the conclusion of his collegiate basketball career Cheaney captured virtually every post-season honor available, including National Player of the Year (winning both the
Early life
Born in Evansville, Indiana, Cheaney played high school ball at William Henry Harrison High School in Evansville and was selected to the 1989 Indiana All-Star team.[2] Cheaney was a high school stand-out, but a season-ending injury midway through his senior year pushed him off the national radar and left him as a virtual unknown in Indiana University's #1 ranked recruiting class of 1989.[3]
College career
Cheaney played small forward for the Indiana University Hoosiers for head coach Bob Knight. He was Knight's first left-handed player. Cheaney was known as a smooth leader all four years at Indiana. During the last three of his years at Indiana, the team spent all but two of the 53 poll weeks in the top 10, and 38 of them in the top 5. The Hoosiers were 87–16 (.845) those years and a 46–8 (.852) mark in the Big Ten Conference.[4] Of the four years Cheaney played the Hoosiers went 105-27 and captured two Big Ten crowns ('91 and '93). The 105 games won during Cheaney's four years was the most of any Hoosier to that point.
Freshman year
Cheaney began his career with a flash, scoring 20 points in the season opener of his freshman year (the only Indiana freshman to ever do so). However, the 1989–90 team ran into tougher competition in January after winning all 10 of their pre-conference games. Taken aback by the intensity of play within the Big Ten, the young Hoosier squad went 8–10 in conference play and were upset by California in their NCAA Tournament opening game. Cheaney averaged 17 points a game as a freshman.[3]
"Our freshman year was very, very subpar," Cheaney said. "We started out excellent and when we got into the Big Ten we were in for a rude awakening. I knew once that season was over and we started working out over the summer, we were going to become a pretty good team. I knew we were going to be a team to be reckoned with the next three years."[3]
Sophomore year
Cheaney averaged 21.6 points per game as a sophomore, with the Hoosiers ending the
Junior year
As a junior during the
In the West Regional final while preparing to face UCLA in Albuquerque, just before practice ended, head coach Bob Knight ran the whip across Cheaney's backside as Cheaney, the team's leading scorer, was bent over, with his shorts pulled down slightly. On Thursday, both Albuquerque newspapers published photographs of the incident. Cheaney appeared to be laughing in one of the photos.[7]
Senior year
As a senior during the
Over the course of his career at Indiana, Cheaney scored 30 or more points thirteen times and averaged 19.8 points per game, with a high of 22.4 as senior. With 2,613 career points, he is the all-time leading scorer of both Indiana and the Big Ten.
College statistics
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989–90 | Indiana | 29 | 29 | 32.0 | .572 | .490 | .750 | 4.6 | 1.7 | .8 | .6 | 17.1 |
1990–91 | Indiana | 34 | 34 | 30.3 | .596 | .473 | .801 | 5.5 | 1.4 | .7 | .4 | 21.6 |
1991–92 | Indiana | 34 | 32 | 29.1 | .522 | .384 | .800 | 4.9 | 1.4 | 1.1 | .2 | 17.6 |
1992–93 | Indiana | 35 | 35 | 33.7 | .549 | .427 | .795 | 6.4 | 2.4 | .9 | .3 | 22.4 |
Career | 132 | 130 | 31.3 | .559 | .438 | .790 | 5.4 | 1.7 | .9 | .3 | 19.8 |
Professional career
NBA career
Cheaney was selected 6th overall by the
Cheaney appeared along with many of his 1997 Bullet teammates (Juwan Howard, Ben Wallace, and Ashraf Amaya) in singer Crystal Waters' 1996 video "Say... If You Feel Alright".[10] He also appeared in the 1994 film Blue Chips as a player for the Indiana University Hoosiers.[11]
Post-NBA
Following his retirement as a player, Cheaney spent two seasons on the staff for the Golden State Warriors. He was a special assistant in the front office in 2009–10, and in 2010–11 he was an assistant coach under fellow Indiana alumnus Keith Smart.[12][13] He then returned to Indiana in 2011 and served as Director of Basketball Operations under coach Tom Crean. The following year he added the title of Director of Internal and External Player Development.[8]
On August 21, 2013, Cheaney announced that he had accepted an assistant coach position at Saint Louis University under head coach Jim Crews, a fellow alumnus of Indiana University.[1] During his first season with St. Louis in 2013–14 the Billikens finished with a 27–7 record and secured an Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season title and an NCAA Tournament appearance.[12] Cheaney left the St. Louis staff in 2016 with the departure of Crews as head coach. Cheaney is currently Director of Player Development at Indiana University, a position he started in 2023.
NBA career statistics
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
* | Led the league |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993–94 | Washington | 65 | 21 | 24.7 | .470 | .043 | .770 | 2.9 | 1.9 | 1.0 | .2 | 12.0 |
1994–95 | Washington | 78 | 71 | 34.0 | .453 | .339 | .812 | 4.1 | 2.3 | 1.0 | .3 | 16.6 |
1995–96 | Washington | 70 | 70 | 33.2 | .471 | .338 | .706 | 3.4 | 2.2 | 1.0 | .3 | 15.1 |
1996–97 | Washington | 79 | 79 | 30.6 | .505 | .133 | .693 | 3.4 | 1.4 | 1.0 | .2 | 10.6 |
1997–98 | Washington | 82* | 82* | 34.6 | .457 | .283 | .647 | 4.0 | 2.1 | 1.2 | .4 | 12.8 |
1998–99 | Washington | 50* | 18 | 25.3 | .414 | .216 | .493 | 2.8 | 1.5 | .8 | .3 | 7.7 |
1999–00 | Boston | 67 | 19 | 19.5 | .440 | .333 | .429 | 2.1 | 1.2 | .7 | .2 | 4.0 |
2000–01 | Denver | 9 | 5 | 17.0 | .333 | – | .500 | 2.2 | 1.0 | .4 | .2 | 2.3 |
2001–02 | Denver | 68 | 47 | 24.0 | .481 | .000 | .687 | 3.5 | 1.6 | .5 | .3 | 7.3 |
2002–03 | Utah | 81 | 74 | 29.0 | .499 | .400 | .580 | 3.5 | 2.0 | .8 | .2 | 8.6 |
2003–04 | Golden State | 79 | 7 | 26.2 | .481 | .000 | .610 | 3.3 | 1.7 | .8 | .2 | 7.6 |
2004–05 | Golden State | 55 | 5 | 17.3 | .426 | .000 | .649 | 2.3 | 1.2 | .3 | .3 | 4.5 |
2005–06 | Golden State | 42 | 0 | 10.7 | .389 | .000 | 1.000 | 1.5 | .5 | .3 | .0 | 2.2 |
Career | 825 | 498 | 26.7 | .466 | .298 | .691 | 3.2 | 1.7 | .8 | .2 | 9.5 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1997 | Washington | 3 | 3 | 40.0 | .439 | .000 | .750 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 1.0 | .7 | 15.0 |
2003 | Utah | 5 | 5 | 20.4 | .370 | – | .500 | 1.4 | 1.6 | .4 | .2 | 4.4 |
Career | 8 | 8 | 30.3 | .412 | .000 | .688 | 2.3 | 1.5 | .6 | .4 | 8.4 |
Basketball honors
- 1993: Won all 12 NCAA National Player of the year awards. Unanimous First-Team All America
- All-America 1991, 1992, 1993
- 1993 Big Ten Conference MVP
- All-Big Ten 1991, 1992, 1993
- Big Ten's All Time Scoring Leader (2,613)
- Indiana University's All-Time leading scorer
- Four time IU team MVP
- Selected to Indiana University's All-Century First Team
- 1993 USBWA College Player of the Year
References
- ^ a b Hickey, Pat (16 March 2018). "Sources: Calbert Cheaney, UE in serious talks for head coaching position". Courier & Press. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "Hard work helps create 'cradle of coaches' at Harrison High School". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2012-11-16.
- ^ a b c d e McCarthy, Alex (14 July 2016). "Throwback Thursday: Calbert Cheaney". Inside Indiana. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ ISBN 1-58261-068-1.
- ^ a b c "Indiana Basketball Men's Database". IndyStar. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
- ^ "Duke Stymies Hoosiers, 81-78". washingtonpost.com.
- ^ Tribune, Chicago. "KNIGHT'S WHIP NO JOKE TO NAACP". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2021-03-05.
- ^ a b c d "Calbert Cheaney to join Indiana staff". ESPN. 18 June 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
- ^ "Calbert Cheaney Stats". Basketball-Reference.com.
- ^ Bembry, Jerry (31 January 1997). "Bullets head West with a lot to prove Team 0–10 vs. elite foes". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ "Calbert Cheaney". IMDb.
- ^ a b "Calbert Cheaney". SLU Billikens. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ Simmons, Rusty (10 October 2010). "Warriors: 1–2–3–4–5 assistants working overtime". SF Gate. Retrieved 18 March 2018.