Calbert Cheaney

From Hoopedia

Calbert Nathaniel Cheaney (born July 17, 1971 in Evansville, Indiana) is a veteran basketball player in the NBA currently a free agent. He was selected 6th overall by the Washington Bullets in the 1993 NBA Draft. His last team was the Golden State Warriors in the 2005-06 season.

He played high school ball at William Henry Harrison High School in Evansville and was selected to the 1989 Indiana All-Star team. Cheaney was a high school stand-out, but few would have predicted he would capture the Naismith Award.

Big Ten Performance

Cheaney was both a shooting guard and a small forward at Indiana University where his offensive game and defensive prowess helped him lead one of the most exciting Hoosier teams ever. Four years of instruction from Hall of Fame coach Bobby Knight and Cheaney's resilient work ethic helped the 6' 7" southpaw maximize his talent. His skills and character fit perfectly into the Hoosiers' system, a match which benefitted both the player and the program.

Led by Cheaney, the 1991-1993 Hoosiers were ranked by the polls among the top five in America for most of those two seasons. Along the way, the Class of 1993 defended their home court relentlessly. When the Hoosiers lost to Iowa by a single point on February 21, 1991, this was the last time a visiting team would win at Assembly Hall until Michigan did so in 1995 - a streak of 56 games. Indiana nearly captured the 1992 National Championship, falling short to Duke in a foul-plagued Final Four game in Minneapolis. In 1993, the AP selected the 31-4 Hoosiers as their regular season national champion.

While at Indiana, Cheaney scored 30 or more points thirteen times and averaged 19.8 points per game in his collegiate career, with a high of 22.4 as senior. Cheaney won 105 games in his four years - the most of any Hoosier. Over his last three seasons in college, Cheaney led his teams to an 87-16 (.845) record and a 46-8 (.852) mark in the Big Ten Conference; they won nine games in the NCAA tournament and captured back to back Big Ten crowns. With the recent trend of top players heading early to the NBA, Cheaney may be remembered as one of the last of the top-tier college players to play a senior season, and his Big Ten career scoring record may remain unbroken.