Blue Devil senior Joy Cheek was chosen in the third round of the WNBA Draft Thursday by the Indiana Fever. Cheek was the 35th out of 36 players selected in the draft. By being drafted, Cheek is entitled to a workout with the Fever, but no draft picks are guaranteed contracts by the WNBA.
The senior tri-captain was one of two players, along with junior Jasmine Thomas, to start every game for Duke this season. Cheek was the second-leading scorer behind Thomas at 10 points per game. She was also second on the team in rebounds, with 5.9 per game, behind Krystal Thomas. Both totals were the highest averages of Cheek's four-year career as she earned third-team All-ACC honors.
Cheek really picked up steam in the postseason, being named to ACC All-Tournament team as Duke won its first conference tournament championship in six years. She was also named to the All-Tournament team in the Memphis regional as the Blue Devils advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since losing in the 2006 National Championship game.
Although the Blue Devil's career ended on a sour note as she missed two 3-pointers in the final 15 seconds of Duke's season-ending loss to Baylor, Cheek now gets the opportunity to redeem herself at the next level.
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