Jan. 13, 2015
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State men's basketball head coach Steve Fisher announced today that true freshman forward Zylan Cheatham will redshirt this season. He will be classified as a redshirt freshman in 2015-16.
"The support he got at home and the advice he got at home was very helpful to him not to have him do all kinds of second guessing, wondering and worrying," Fisher said. "His dad and mom were very good in terms in of, `Zylan, you need to do this, you need to listen, you need to trust, they have your best interest and ultimately, this is best for you.'"
A native of Phoenix, Arizona, Cheatham, arrived on campus with a broken left foot, an injury he suffered during the summer. After undergoing surgery and rehabilitating the injury, he began to practice with the team in mid-December before Cheatham, his family and the SDSU coaching staff made the decision to utilize his redshirt year.
Prior to his arrival on Montezuma Mesa, the 6-7, 210-pound South Mountain High graduate was a four-star player, according to Rivals.com and ESPN.com, and was rated No. 78 on the Rivals 150 and No. 88 on ESPN 100. Cheatham was a part of a four-player signing class that was considered among the top 15 in the nation.