Haanif Cheatham

HONORS

• Cayman Islands Classic All-Tournament Team    
• Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Nominee
• Bus Whithead Scholarship Winner

OVERVIEW
Haanif Cheatham (pronounced Hah-NEEF CHEE-tum) finished his college career as one of the leaders for the 2019-20 Huskers. The 6-foot-5 guard put together his best full season, as he averaged 13.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game, pacing the Huskers in both scoring and field goal percentage (.465). He set career bests in 3-pointers (32), rebounds (124) and steals (36) while starting all 32 games. For his career, he played in 112 games, including 104 starts and totaled 1,261 points, 420 rebounds and 221 assists between Marquette, Florida Gulf Coast and Nebraska.
 
2019-20 (SENIOR)
Cheatham was the first player to commit to NU under Coach Fred Hoiberg and became a leader for a youthful Husker squad. He was the only Husker to start all 32 games, and averaged 13.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He led NU in scoring, field goal percentage (.465) and double-digit performances (24), while ranking third on the team in assists. Cheatham was one of four Huskers in the top 10 in the Big Ten in steals, as he finished the season 10^th in the conference in that category.
 
Cheatham, who was Nebraska’s nominee for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, closed his career playing the best basketball of his career, averaging 18.3 points and 2.5 steals per game in his last four games. He topped NU in scoring in three of his final four collegiate games and scored at least 17 points in all four contests, including the Huskers’ loss to Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament. Over his final 12 games, he was in double figures 10 times and averaged 14.8 ppg on 45 percent shooting, including 36 percent from 3-point range.
 
Cheatham started slowly, averaging just 6.8 ppg in his first four games before enjoying a breakout effort in the Cayman Islands Classic. He earned a spot on the Cayman Islands Classic All-Tournament team, averaging 19.3 points per game on 70 percent shooting along with 3.7 rebounds per game. He opened the tournament with a then-season-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting along with seven rebounds in the first-round win over Washington State. Two days later, he enjoyed one of the finest performances of his career, pouring in a career-high 26 points vs. South Florida, hitting 8-of-11 shots from the field and 9-of-11 from the foul line as the Huskers earned third place. Cheatham recorded his first career double-double with 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds at Georgia Tech in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
 
In conference action, he paced NU and ranked 14th in scoring at 13.1 points per game while finishing third with 1.3 steals per game. Cheatham made his Big Ten debut at Indiana, posting 21 points and six rebounds in a season-high 41 minutes as the Huskers pushed the Hoosiers to overtime. It was one of his three 20-point efforts in conference play, as he also had 20 points at No. 9 Maryland and versus Northwestern in his home finale. In the loss to Maryland, Cheatham, who was questionable to play because of a calf injury, scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, as the Huskers nearly erased a 14-point second-half deficit.

BEFORE NEBRASKA
Haanif Cheatham (pronounced Hah-NEEF CHEE-tum) spent the 2018-19 season at Florida Gulf Coast, averaging 13.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game, as he started 10 games before season-ending surgery. He reached double figures eight times, including a 23-point effort on 10-of-16 shooting against South Dakota State and a 20-point night against Florida Atlantic. He shot 45 percent from the field, including 36 percent from 3-point range, in his only year at the school.

He spent two-plus seasons at Marquette, earning Big East All-Freshman Team honors in 2015-16 and earned the team’s Best Defensive Player Award in each of his first two full seasons at the school (2015-16, 2016-17). He started all 33 games as a freshman, averaging 11.8 points on 49 percent shooting, 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. He reached double figures 21 times, including a career-high 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting against Jackson State, a contest he went 4-of-4 from 3-point range. In Big East play, he reached double figures 12 times, including three 20-point performances in a four-game stretch. He also averaged 16.5 points per game in the Golden Eagles’ two Big East Tournament contests.

As a sophomore, Cheatham averaged 8.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, while starting 25 of 32 games for Marquette, which went 19-13 and reached the NCAA Tournament. He was third on the team with 71 assists, while cutting his turnovers from 88 to 51. He reached double figures 14 times, including six consecutive games to open the season. He had a season-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting vs. IUPUI, while reaching double figure six times in Big East action, including 17 against Seton Hall. Cheatham started Marquette’s first five games as a junior, averaging 8.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per game, before transferring

Cheatham was a consensus top-100 prospect coming out of Pembroke Pines Charter High School under head coach Dave Roca. He was ranked No. 73 nationally by CBSSports.com, No. 76 by Rivals and No. 83 on ESPN's top-100 recruits ranking. As a senior, he helped his team to a regional finals appearance, averaging 24.0 points. 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game before falling to eventual state champion Miami Norland. He garnered first-team all-state honors by the Florida Association of Basketball Coaches. As a junior, he averaged 26.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.0 steals per game en route to another regional final appearance. His junior campaign was highlighted by four triple-doubles, which helped him earn Florida Dairy Farmer's Class 6A Player-of-the-Year accolades. He played AAU ball for Nike Team Florida and was invited to compete in the Kevin Durant Skills Academy, LeBron James Skills Academy and Nike Global Challenge.

PERSONAL
Haanif Cheatham was born on Sept. 6, 1996, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He is the son of Ingrid Weiss and Terry Cheatham. Haanif has three sisters (Kinyet Fincher, Gloria Fincher and Lisa Brock) and one brother (Billy Brock). Cheatham received his undergraduate degree in communication studies from FGCU in the summer of 2019 and is working on his master's degree in family & community
services.

					Total			3-Point			F-Throw			Rebounds
Year	GP	GS	Min	Avg	FG	FGA	Pct	FG	FGA	Pct	FT	FTA	Pct	Off	Def	Tot	Avg	PF	FO	Ast	TO	Blk	Stl	Pts	Avg
2015-16*	33	33	974	29.5	131	268	.489	29	75	.387	100	122	.820	13	98	111	3.4	67	1	73	88	1	34	391	11.8
2016-17*	32	25	814	25.4	93	203	.458	13	40	.325	79	103	.767	22	101	123	3.8	49	0	71	51	4	23	278	8.7
2017-18*	5	5	131	26.2	16	37	.432	5	13	.385	4	7	.571	2	12	14	2.8	7	0	7	8	0	5	41	8.2
2018-19*	10	10	273	27.3	49	108	.454	8	22	.364	26	40	.650	4	44	48	4.8	12	0	19	24	2	12	132	13.2
2019-20	32	32	1030	32.2	152	327	.465	32	93	.344	83	124	.669	15	109	124	3.9	41	0	51	42	8	36	419	13.1
TOTAL	32	32	1030	32.2	152	327	.465	32	93	.344	83	124	.669	15	109	124	3.9	41	0	51	42	8	36	419	13.1
All*	112	105	3222	28.8	441	943	.468	87	243	.358	292	396	.737	56	364	420	3.8	176	1	221	213	15	110	1261	11.3

 * Statistics from previous schools