After playing the past two seasons at San Diego State and getting a medical redshirt his first year Zylan Cheatham, San Diego State's leading rebounder last season and a South Mountain High School product, will be back in Arizona as part of the Sun Devil program. He will practice with the ASU in 2017-18 and be eligible to play in 2018-19.
"It is a great day for Sun Devil Basketball as we welcome Zylan back to the Valley," notes third-year head coach Bobby Hurley. "Zylan is a terrific young man that plays with great passion and toughness. Sun Devil fans will be instantly attracted to his athleticism, versatility and winning attitude. Zylan has tremendous upside to get better in his sit out year and will have a major impact on the future success of the program."
Welcome @1KingZ4 to the ?????? Family! #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/rSAwwUmYHR
— Bobby Hurley (@BobbyHurley11) April 26, 2017
Last season, he averaged 9.1 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds in 31 games (22 starts). At the 2016 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic, he averaged 15.7 points and 9.3 rebounds en route to earning Most Outstanding Player honors. He scored in double figures 11 times, had three double-digit rebounding performances and produced three double-doubles.
Cheatham averaged 7.9 points and 5.4 rebounds as a redshirt freshman in 38 games (26 starts). He had 10 double-figure scoring games and six double-digit rebounding efforts on an Aztec team that won the 2015-16 Mountain West regular-season title and reach the semifinals of the NIT.
In his 69-game (48 starts) SDSU career he averaged 8.4 points and 5.8 rebounds. He shot 52.4 percent from the field, 73.4 percent from the free-throw line and had 44 blocks and 55 steals.I love how he calls Phoenix "My City."
— Mark McClune (@MarkMcClune) April 27, 2017
Former #SouthMountain star Zylan Cheatham is heading home, transferring to play for the #Sundevils. pic.twitter.com/CEfE5WfV3s
He earned four stars and a No. 78 rating on the Rivals 150 and was No. 88 on the ESPN 100 after the 2013-14 season, as ESPN.com also listed him as the second-best player in the state Nationally 247Sports.com rated him at No. 71 and No. 2 in Arizona in its composite rankings.
He Helped South Mountain to a 17-10 record and a spot in the state playoffs his senior season and was voted to the 2013-14 American Family Insurance Division II All-State second-team as selected by azcentral.com.