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Over the weekend, the Nebraska Cornhuskers got some exciting news as Florida Gulf Coast transfer Haanif Cheatman announced that he would be committing to the program. In many ways, the commitment marked the start of new head coach Fred Hoiberg’s tenure.
Excited to announce I will be playing my grad year season and final college basketball season here at Nebraska university. I’m excited to be apart of @huskerhoops and ready to turn up pinnacle bank arena!! God works in mysterious ways and I’m glad to be apart of this journey #GBR pic.twitter.com/FzmMC1m9xO
— Haanif Cheatham (@hcheatham_22) April 20, 2019
Cheatman is listed as 6-foot-5 and 195 pounds and actually started his career at Marquette before transferring to play with the Eagles last season. During last season, he started 10 games before missing the remainder of the season due to injury. Cheatman averaged 13.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in his limited playing time with Florida Gulf Coast.
While Cheatman doesn’t have the profile of an elite player, he is a graduate transfer and will be able to play immediately next season. And with Nebraska’s massive offseason departures, that has to be welcome news for Husker fans. He’s also a player that can offer something on both sides of the floor. He really showed he was capable of driving the hoop last season and can defend multiple positions.
There’s still a lot of work ahead for Hoiberg and his staff, but this is a really encouraging start. Cheatman likely projects to be a starter next season and should help get the Huskers off the ground and running.