Report: Veteran ACC assistant basketball coach Chris Cheeks passes away

Veteran ACC basketball assistant coach Chris Cheeks has passed away. A well-respected assistant with over two decades of experience under his belt, Cheeks most recently was an assistant coach at Boston College from 2017 to 2021.

“Former @VCU_Hoops player and asst. Coach Chris Cheeks passed away last night,” tweeted Lane Casadonte of WTVR. “Coached with Sonny Smith and Mac McCarthy and holds 2nd best single game scoring record (42 vs ODU) and 3rd best single season scoring mark (667 pts) in VCU history.”

Cheeks arrived at Boston College as an experienced assistant coaching, prior stops including programs like Western Kentucky and Delaware.

Moreover, Cheeks began his coaching career as an assistant at the same program he starred for as a player, VCU. During his time as a player, Cheeks scored 1,273 career points over the course of two seasons at VCU from 1987-89. Additionally, he put up 42 points against Old Dominion in 1989, which stands as the second-most points by a Rams player in a Division I game in history. Finally, his 20.2 career scoring average ranks second in VCU history, and he is immortalized as a member of the Rams All-Time Team.

After beginning his coaching career in 1995 with VCU, Cheeks moved on to West Virginia, where he coached the Mountaineers from 2000-2002. Then, the former VCU star was an assistant at Georgia State and Charlotte before being named the head coach of the D.C. Assault, a Washington-based AAU squad, in 2011. Then, Cheeks returned to the collegiate ranks, where he coached at Delaware and Western Kentucky before joining Boston College in 2017.

Chris Cheeks left an impressive legacy on the sport of basketball, and he leaves behind his wife Mona, and three children: Christopher Jr., Brandon and Lauren. The basketball world is sending prayers to his family.