Top-35 forward Taeshon Cherry commits to the Sun Devils
During a successful official visit to Tempe, Taeshon Cherry felt that ASU was going to be his eventual college destination. It may have been just delaying the inevitable but a couple of days after returning home to San Diego, the four-star prospect verbaled to Bobby Hurley as the team’s newest addition to the 2018 recruiting class.
“Coach Hurley is such a great coach and I feel that during the visit, me and him bonded very well,” Cherry said. “The way he approached me, and the way he treated my family was very different than any other coach that ever approached me before. His competitive spirit and his will to win led me wanting to commit to them.
“Everyone there just showed me so much love, I just didn’t think anybody would be in competition with them.”
Cherry was at Wells Fargo Arena where ASU played the Oregon schools with back to back crowds of 13,000-plus each game and said that one of the things that made a deep impression on him: "The fans. Mainly the fans. The way they knew me and showed that they really cared about me push me over the edge.
“The athletic director Ray Anderson took some time to come with his wife and have breakfast with me and my family, sit down and talk to us about the school, that also pushed me over the edge. No school has ever done that for me on a visit before. (Senior Associate Athletics Director) Dave Cohen is such a great guy and just everybody there in the athletic department showed me so much love and showed me that they wanted me to come there so bad.
Cherry is a well-rounded forward, who’s plenty athletic to be effective in high paced offenses and play in transition, but can also excel in half court offenses with a formidable jump shot from mid and long-range.
After watching the college of his choice in action in two games, something that is a rarity during most official visits, the forward was convinced that ASU’s style of play would effectively fit him and his skill set.
“They play fast and up-tempo that is my style of play,” Cherry explained. “Coach Hurley know how to use his stretch-3 man and stretch-4 man. I want to play in that up-tempo pace and see that really put me over (with his decision making).
“I wanted to commit during the visit but my parents told me to hold off a couple of days. So, I was in my room Sunday and Monday thinking about it and last night I told my parents that I thought this was the best decision for me. They were behind me a 1000 percent so I called Coach Hurley at around midnight.
“Coach Hurley took my call and took my commitment on the spot. He was so happy I could hear it in his voice. He said that he was glad to have me on the team and that this made his whole year so I’m glad I made his whole year (laughs).”
Cherry, a former USC pledge who was also considering Texas A&M and Illinois among others, said he won’t visit any other schools and is shutting down his recruiting process. “I’m 110 percent committed.”
Cherry joins two other four-star prospects as part of ASU’s 2018 class, both guards. Luguentz Dort and Elias Valtonen have signed their Letter of Intents with Arizona State in November and Cherry will follow suit in April.
