Moon Valley's Bryce Cheney commits to new Division I basketball program Texas Rio Grande Valley

Phoenix Moon Valley senior basketball player Bryce Cheney turned down scholarship offers from Weber State and UTEP to be part of a new Division I college basketball program in Texas.

Cheney, a 6-foot-7, 195-pound swingman, who can play anywhere from shooting guard to power forward, said he has committed to the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, which has combined UT Pan American and UT Brownsville campuses.

“The coaches are looking to build something and they said I could be a big piece to build that,” said Cheney, who averaged 10 points and 8.5 rebounds for the Rockets during his junior season.

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Cheney said he will visit the school for the first time in September.

“Their head coach (Dan Hipsher) said I can get some good minutes my freshman year,” Cheney said.

Cheney said he felt he made good progress this summer playing for Arizona Power Basketball Academy. Last spring was the first time he played in an NCAA live evaluation event.

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He feels his scoring and rebounding numbers will improve this year at Moon Valley.

“I made a lot of improvement throughout the summer,” Cheney said. “Mostly, it was my mental toughness. I felt I finally got my head on straight.”

Power coach John Ortega felt that Cheney was under-recruited and will do well in college.

“The sky’s the limit for him,” Ortega said. “He’s going to make a lot of people sorry they didn’t recruit him harder.”

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