Kent lands JUCO forward

Ernie Kent and his staff are on the board with their first haul at the helm of the Washington State basketball program as a 6-foot-7, 240-pound forward from the junior college ranks made his pledge to Ernie Kent at his school on Monday.

"I committed to Washington State today," Aaron Cheatum told WazzuWatch.com. "I loved the energy and direction the program is going, the coaching staff and the atmosphere.

"I also wanted to play in one of the best, if not the best, conferences in the nation, so that also helped make the decision easy."

His primary recruiter was Silvey Dominguez and Cheatum says the pair developed a solid relationship in the short amount of time they spoke.

"I really, really like Silvey because he's tough," Cheatum said. "He pretty much sold me the toughness of the team and that he wanted me to come be a big part of that."

Cheatum, who will have three years to play two at Washington State, played his prep ball at Moreno Valley (Calif.) Rancho Verde before going to junior college route and attending East Los Angeles (Calif.) College for the last two seasons. As a sophomore this season, Cheatum averaged 15.2 points and 8.9 rebounds per game to earn South Coast Conference player of the year honors and helped lead ELAC to their first conference championship in 42 years.

At 6-foot-7, Cheatum is able to play the wing but he's also proven to be effective in the post. He shot 44 percent from the field and 35 percent from behind the arc, so he's not shy to step out and take the open shot, but the forward believes his greatest asset lies in his ability to know situations as a student of the game.

"I think I read the game, the flow of it and what I need to do in any given situation," Cheatum said. "Down the stretch when I need to make a few shots, I like to be that guy but if they key on me, it's even better because I'm opening the floor for other guys."

In addition to Washington State, Cheatum held offers from Tulane, Portland State, Idaho, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, Central Florida, Bradley, Miami (OH) and Auburn prior Bruce Pearl's hiring on The Plains. He also says Dayton was close to offering.

While he has yet to visit Pullman, Cheatum officially visited Idaho earlier this year, so he's familiar with the layout.

"I visited Idaho earlier this year so I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what the vibe and atmosphere is like up there," Cheatum said. "I'm going to talk to the coaches about a visit, maybe, but I'm locked in."

During his senior season of high school, Cheatum played for Team Eleate, an AAU and mentorship program, with current Washington State guard Que Johnson and it's a relationship, he says, that should help immediately.

"We should be good together because our game is complimentary of each other and similar at the same time," Cheatum said. "It should be problems for other teams."