Joy Cheek, recently named one of the WBCA’s “Thirty under 30,” has joined the Clemson women’s basketball staff, head coach Amanda Butler announced.
Cheek, who served as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Vanderbilt the past two seasons, was a standout student-athlete at Duke. Prior to her time at Vanderbilt, Cheek coached at Ohio State, where she spent three seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator after two seasons as an assistant and co-recruiting coordinator at her alma mater. She worked with post players at Ohio State and Vanderbilt, where she helped Kayla Overbeck earn All-SEC Freshman Team honors.
“It’s great to welcome Joy to our Clemson Family,” Butler said. “She is a tremendous recruiter, and her passion for coaching is going to be a great addition to our team. With her success as a student-athlete and her ability to relate to current players, it’s easy to see why she’s one of the top young assistant coaches in the nation. She’s the total package – teacher, mentor, role model and first-class individual.”
Cheek’s teams have enjoyed extraordinary postseason success, advancing to the Elite 8 in both seasons at Duke, to the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Ohio State in her second season and the Sweet 16 in 2015-16.
In her role as recruiting coordinator at Ohio State, she helped the Buckeyes land top-25 classes in each of her final two seasons, including a top-5 class in 2015-16. While in Columbus, she coached post players, mentoring Shayla Cooper who was drafted in the WNBA.
The daughter of NFL official Boris Cheek, she served as a White House intern after graduating from Duke in the summer of 2009, working in the Office of the Vice President and Economic Policy. Cheek was also a member of the ACC Honor Roll during her career at Duke.
On the court, Cheek produced an outstanding career. She was a four-year letterwinner for the Blue Devils, scoring more than 1,000 career points.
Cheek was drafted by the WNBA’s Indiana Fever with the 35th overall selection in the 2010 draft. She also played professionally in Leszno, Poland and had a brief stint with the WNBA’s Washington Mystics.
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