The NCAA season is often a proving ground for college basketball’s finest, and this year, it was Dayton’s Enoch Cheeks who turned heads. In a stunning 85-67 victory over UConn the current reigning champion, Cheeks delivered a career-defining performance, by leading the Flyers with an awesome 20 points and demonstrating why he’s one of the most exciting players to watch in college basketball. But who is Enoch Cheeks?

From a high school phenom to a key player in Dayton’s resurgence, here’s everything you need to know about the man wearing Dayton’s number 6.

Enoch Cheeks NIL and Stats

Enoch Cheeks’s who was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, started his basketball journey at Mount Pleasant High School. There, he showcased his potential early, by averaging 21.1 points and grabbing 10.3 rebounds per game, in his sophomore year, this stellar play earned him First Team All-Rhode Island honors and set the stage for bigger opportunities.

Afterward, Cheeks transferred to Kimball Union Academy and later Putnam Science Academy, however, it was at  Springfield Commonwealth Academy during his post-graduate year that he found true success.

In fact, this success would come in the form of an NEPSAC regular-season championship which he won for Springfield, thereby establishing himself as a player to watch in the high school basketball scene.

His AAU tenure with Expressions Elite further sharpened his skills. Before donning Dayton’s colors, Cheeks would further make a name for himself at Robert Morris University by becoming one of the team’s most reliable players, for 2 seasons which would earn him the Third Team All-Horizon League honors in 2022-23.

He did that by averaging 15.4 points while grabbing 4.4 rebounds in the paint, and making 3.6 assists per game. He would also showcase his shooting prowess by scoring an impressive 44.6% from the field. However, one of his standout moments at Robert Morris would come against his future team Dayton in November 2022, where he would score 15 points in a closely contested game.

It was perhaps an omen of things to come, as Cheeks would later transfer to the Flyers in his later years. In his debut season, for the Flyers, Cheeks would start all 33 games.  In these games, Enoch would showcase his defensive prowess by leading the team in steals (40), and being only second in blocks (21) which would earn him the Steve McElvene Best Defender Award.

Cheeks’s consistency would later become a hallmark of his game, especially during the latter half of the season, where he scored in double figures in nine of the final 13 contests. Off the court too Enoch has been continually improving his game on the NIL front Cheeks has utilized has amassed a substantial amount of followers on social media sites, with about 8696 of them on Instagram and 949 on X. In February 2024, he took another step forward by partnering with the Dayton NIL Store, solidifying his position as a rising name both on and off the court.

The UConn Game: A Career-Defining Moment

However, the spotlight has never been brighter, especially after Dayton’s Maui Invitational game against UConn where Cheeks led the charge against a then 4-2 Huskies team.

Cheeks was unstoppable, in the game as he shot 8-of-12 from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, and finishing with a team-high 20 points. His performance was emblematic of Dayton’s dominance in the game, which saw the Flyers outshoot UConn from three (47.1% to 27.6%) and overwhelm them on the boards with a +16 rebounding margin.

While UConn’s Alex Karaban kept the Huskies competitive in the first half with 15 points, Cheeks and the Flyers seized control with a 15-4 run to close the half. The second half saw Dayton maintain its composure, with Cheeks delivering crucial buckets to keep UConn at bay.

His 2024-25 preseason Atlantic 10 honors, including a spot on the All-Defensive Team, are further evidence of his growing stature. As the Flyers prepare for their next games, Cheeks’s scoring prowess will come in clutch for Dayton’s journey in the NCAA. With Dayton sitting at 6-2 and Cheeks in peak form, the Flyers are poised for a strong season and let’s just say that the win over UConn wasn’t just a moment of triumph but also a glimpse into what this team—and its star guard—can achieve.

Whether he’s draining clutch threes or locking down opponents on defense, Enoch Cheeks is proving that he’s not just a player to watch—he’s a player to believe in.