Daily Pilot High School Athlete of the Week

Danny Cheek can get up in the air in a hurry on a basketball court.

The junior goes by “N-Flight” as in get out of the way because Cheek’s about to take off. His grandmother, Cathy, just gave Cheek the nickname.

Grandma hasn’t watched him play at Corona del Mar High this season. The Sea Kings are enjoying one of their finest starts in school history at 16-3, much of it stems from Cheek’s guard play.

Cathy lives in Washington, D.C., where Cheek said he grew up before moving to Orange County as an eighth-grader. The distance from Cheek didn’t stop Cathy from coming up with the perfect nickname for her grandson.

One picture Cheek mailed her was all she needed to see. The 6-foot-3 Cheek looked like a high-flying act and he has lived up to it on the eighth-ranked team in the CIF Southern Section Division III-A coaches’ poll.

“I don’t really think it was an actual dunking picture,” said Cheek, who believes he was leaping in the air for a rebound while the photo was taken. “She called me N-Flight, and ever since then I just put that on everything.

“If you look at my book bag, I have N-Flight 13, the number is for the one I wear on my jersey. I know I’m going to get ripped for this one. [My teammates are] going to let me have it when they see this.”

Teammates already have, and they called out Cheek for a different reason.

At the start of Pacific Coast League play, N-Flight was grounded. Cheek sat out the opener at Laguna Hills on Jan. 8 after arriving late to practice.

Cheek wasn’t alone, but he blames himself for him and Ramon Mejia losing their starting jobs. Instead of being on time to practice, the two played video games.

When the two finally made it to the CdM gym, it was game over for the both of them.

“I knew that I was going to have to deal with Coach [Ryan] Schachter],” Cheek said. “I told Ramon to go ahead and practice. Coach, he was upset. He told us being [the top] players, we’ve got to set an example.”

Schachter wound up making an example out of Cheek and Mejia. The two got benched.

They came off the bench in the Sea Kings’ first two league contests. CdM easily won both by a margin of 28 points per game.

In order for Cheek and Mejia to regain their spots in the starting lineup, Schachter gave them one ultimatum, besides being on time.

“They had to work harder than everybody else in practice,” said Schachter, who is harder on his best players.

Cheek earned his way back last week. The timing was ideal for Cheek, as the Sea Kings played host to defending league champion University.

Cheek remembered the two setbacks to the Trojans last season that eliminated CdM from claiming its third straight league title. Cheek took advantage of his first league start, finishing with 17 points, six rebounds and two steals in a 60-42 blowout of University.

Last week turned out to be one of the best for Cheek this season. He averaged 19 points, five rebounds and two steals during a three-game stretch.

More importantly to Schachter, he sees a more mature Cheek, which bodes well for his prospects of playing on the next level. Cheek said Washington State, Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and UC Santa Barbara are showing interest in him.

“I think in the beginning of the year, it was kind of the same Danny as last year,” Schachter said. “When he wanted to be great, he was great, and when he wasn’t, he didn’t feel he was challenged enough, or he was just kind of going through the motions.

“Within four weeks, he has transformed just mentally in terms of competing from the [start], not just kind of feeling things out, but just trying to make things happen. He’s definitely taken a huge step in terms of the mental part of his game.”

There is one lapse Cheek won’t have again.

“I’m not going to be late,” said Cheek, who has helped the Sea Kings to a 4-0 start in league. “I’m always early for practice now. I don’t even leave campus anymore when I know we have practice.”