VCU Basketball mourns the passing of former star Chris Cheeks, who built his legacy as one of the program’s all-time greats with two of the most prolific seasons by a Ram from 1987-1989.
Cheeks, 54, died from an apparent heart attack on Wednesday, according to a report from CBS6 in Richmond.
A 6’4” guard, Cheeks poured in 1,273 points in just two seasons after transferring from Lon Morris (Texas) Junior College. A native of Washington, D.C., Cheeks was named All-Sun Belt Conference First Team in 1989 following a senior campaign in which he averaged a league-best 23.8 points per game, the third-highest mark in program history and the most by any Ram since 1970.
Cheeks torched Old Dominion for 42 points in a game that season, the second-most by a VCU player since the school’s inception in 1968. His 18 field goals in that contest are still a VCU record.
Cheeks also earned second team All-Sun Belt Conference honors in 1988 after he averaged 17.3 points and led the Rams to a 23-12 record and the third round of the NIT. He was also named to the Sun Belt All-Tournament Team that season.
Cheeks’ career average of 20.2 points per game ranks second in school history only to Charles Wilkins (23.8). He is one of only two Rams to average 20 points per game over the course of his career. Cheeks owns the third and eighth highest points totals in school single-season history, and he topped 30 points in a game 10 times in two seasons.
He later served as an assistant coach at VCU from 1995-2000, where he helped the Rams capture a CAA title in 1996, before embarking on stints as an assistant at West Virginia, Georgia State, Charlotte, Delaware, Western Kentucky and most recently, Boston College.
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