Michael Cheaney, acoaching veteran with more than 20 years of experience at the NCAA Division I, II, III and NAIA levels, enters his 11th season at the helm of the Warhawks. Cheaney, whotook over the Warhawksin May of 2014, came to Montgomery after spending four seasons as the head coach at Voorhees College in Denmark, S.C. He became just the third men’s basketball coach in AUM history, joining Herbert Greene and Larry Chapman. Under Cheaney's tutelage, forward Malachi Rhodes burst onto the scene as one of the top post players in the Gulf South Conference in the 2023-2024 season. Rhodes started 25 games and ranked among the best in the GSC in a host of categories, including scoring (15th), rebounds per game (2nd), offensive rebounds (4th), offensive rebounds per game (3rd), defensive rebounds (9th), defensive rebounds per game (8th), total rebounds (3rd), field goal percentage (2nd), field goals made (11th), free throw percentage (5th), blocked shots (8th), blocked shots per game (7th), steals (19th), and steals per game (19th). Rhodes posted a pair of 30-point games and also posted seven games with multiple blocked shots. AUM owned a 15-14 overall record in 2022-23 season and went 13-11 in GSC action. The season was highlighted by a birth to the GSC Tournament as the No. 6 seed in the field.The Warhawks earned a 98-75 victory over the University of West Florida that featured the program's best shooting performance in school history and third-best in GSC history at 74.5 percent. AUM led the conference in rebounding at 37.7 per game and finished third in scoring at 77 points per game. The 4.28 blocks per game was best in the GSC and 18th best in the nation. Travis Anderson took home GSC Player of the Week after knocking in a game-winning three pointer against Mississippi College on December 4. The Warhawks posted a record of 12-16 in 2021-22, highlighted by senior guard Isaiah Hart being named to the All-GSC second team. Hart finished third in the conference in points per game (18.2) and led the GSC with 114 assists. Senior guard Jeremiah Bozeman was named to the GSC All-Academic Team and the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team for his efforts both on the court and in the classroom. The Warhawks led all of NCAA Division II with 174 total blocked shots and 6.2 blocks per game. Junior forward James Graham led the GSC with 58 blocks while Roderick Smith ranked second with 42 and JelalWilliams ranked fifth with 30. Hart took home GSC Player of the Week honors twice throughout the season while Bozeman and Graham were also named conference Player of the Week in 2021-22. Maharrith Jackson and Sam Youngblood both earned all-conference honors from the GSC in 2020-21, with Jackson being named to the All-GSCSecond Team and Youngblood taking home GSC Eastern Division Freshman of the Year honors. Jackson led the Warhawks and ranked in the top 10 in the conference in both points per game (15.5) and rebounds per contest (8.4). Youngblood shot 36 percent on three-pointers for the year and was twice named the GSC Eastern Division Freshman of the Week. Stanley Davis earned GSC All-Academic Team honors for the second-consecutive season while also being named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team for District 5 in D-II.As a team, the Warhawks’ 36.9 rebounds per game ranked second in the GSC. The Warhawks added seven wins from their previous season in 2019-20, finishing with a mark of 15-14in their first season as full-fledged members of NCAA Division II. AUM compiled 10 wins in Gulf South Conference play, earning themselves a berth in the Gulf South Conference Championship as the number-seven seed. The Orange and Black defended their home court with a 9-4 record in games played at the AUM Gymnasium, including wins in six of their final seven home games to help punch their ticket to the postseason. The Warhawks finished the year thirdin the conference in points per game (77.7), third in rebounds per game (37.4) and second in free-throw percentage (74.6).Senior guard Darrion Tayloretched his name into the program record book on Nov. 16 at Embry-Riddleby becoming just the 19th player in AUM's men's basketball history to eclipse the 1,000-point mark for his career with the Warhawks. D. Taylor additionally led all of the GSC with a 45 percent three-point efficiency on the season.Senior guard Carlos Bell took home GSC Player of the Week honors twice during the season, while junior forward Maharrith Jackson earned the weekly honor once. Junior guard Stanley Davis was named to the GSC Winter All-Academic Team for his efforts both on the court and in the classroom. In 2018-19, the Warhawks finished 8-20. AUM picked up road wins at Florida Tech and University of Tampa in the early portion of the year, with key conference victories against Shorter, Mississippi College and Montevallo down the stretch. Junior Aaron Reddickunofficially paced the GSC with a 61 percent field-goal efficiency, while also posting a conference-high 52 blocks and a 1.9 blocks-per-game average. In his first three seasons at the helm of the Warhawks men's basketball program, Cheaneycompiled a 39-46 record. In 2015-16, guard Desmond Deramus was named SSAC Freshman of the Year, along with Romoane Eager and Reagan Eubanks earning Second-Team All-Conference selections under Cheaney's lead. The 2015-16 season finish marked the most wins for an AUM men's basketball team since the 2008-09 team finished 27-7. In 2016-17 AUM started the process of joining the NCAA Division II. In that season the Warhawks went 7-19 playing only eight home contests as they made the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II, with 10 of those losses decided by nine points or less. While at Voorhees, Cheaney led his squad to a 72-55 record and a trip to the NAIA National Tournament. In his first season with the Tigers, Cheaney helped the team to 16 wins, more than triple the total from the year before. He followed with a 22-9 mark in his second season, helping the team to its first national ranking in more than 10 years. In his third year, he guided Voorhees to a 23-12 record, won the Association of Independent Institutions Conference Tournament and made an appearance in the NAIA National Tournament. The Tigers eventually fell to former Southern States Athletic Conference rival and traditional power Lee University. During the 2013-14 season, Voorhees finished 11-18, but picked up a pair of victories against SSAC foe Brewton-Parker and an 89-84 win against Talladega College, which finished No. 11 in the final NAIA Coaches’ Top 25 Poll. Prior to the four-year stint with the Tigers, Cheaney was an assistant coach at NCAA Division II Livingstone College in Salisbury, N.C., for three years. While with the Blue Bears, he helped recruit seven junior college recruits and four Division I transfers with just three athletic scholarships. Livingstone finished 35-21 during his time on the bench, winning the school’s first conference tournament game in more than 10 years and defeating three nationally-ranked teams. The Blue Bears also earned the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s highest GPA award among men’s basketball programs. Before arriving at Livingstone, Cheaney spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Central Arkansas, where he helped the Bears to consecutive 20-win seasons after the team finished 5-22 the year before his arrival. In his first season UCA finished 20-10, while the team finished 21-6, were Co-Champions of the Southland Conference and ranked first in the region in team defense the following season. In addition, Cheaney has made coaching stops at Wilberforce University in Wilberforce, Ohio, and at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia. He began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at DePauw University. Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Cheaney was a standout student-athlete at Kentucky Wesleyan University. During his playing career, Cheaney earned the Senior Award as the Panthers’ outstanding athlete, set the school record for field goal percentage and was named the team’s Most Improved Player. Cheaney earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Kentucky Wesleyan in 1996. He went on to earn a master’s in sports management from Indiana State University.
The Warhawks tallied a record of 9-19 in 2017-18. AUM posted three road wins over nationally ranked opponents, with an 80-72 win at #24 Kentucky Wesleyan on Nov. 18, a 77-68 win at #5 Christian Brothers on Jan. 2 and a 73-70 victory at #13 West Florida on Jan. 21. Junior guard Desmond DeRamus eclipsed the 1,000 career-point plateau in an 85-83 thrilling road win at Mississippi College on Feb. 1.
The Warhawks picked up their first NCAA Division II victory over Georgia Southwestern State on Nov. 29, 2016, an 88-63 win for AUM at home.
