Aaron Cook Jr.

Aaron Cook Jr. (born December 28, 1997) is an American professional basketball player who last played for Nevėžis Kėdainiai of the Lithuanian Basketball League (LKL). He played college basketball for the Southern Illinois Salukis, Gonzaga Bulldogs, and Georgia Bulldogs.

This article is about the American basketball player. For other uses, see Aaron Cook (disambiguation).
Aaron Cook Jr.
Cook in 2022
Free agent
PositionPoint guard
Personal information
Born (1997-12-28) December 28, 1997
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight185 lb (84 kg)
Career information
High schoolWestminster Christian Academy
(Town and Country, Missouri)
College
NBA draft2022: undrafted
Playing career2022–present
Career history
2022–2023Enosis Neon Paralimni
2023Nevėžis Kėdainiai

High school career

Cook grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and attended Westminster Christian Academy in nearby Town and Country. As a junior, he averaged over 16 points per game and led his team to a 24–6 record and a district championship.[1] In his senior year, he finished with the sixth-highest scoring average in St. Louis with 22.1 points per game. He helped his team finish 24–6 and was named First Team All-Metro by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.[2] Cook was not heavily recruited out of high school. On October 2, 2015, he verbally committed to play college basketball at Southern Illinois over offers from Liberty, South Dakota State, Ohio, Eastern Illinois, Central Michigan, and Jacksonville State.[1][3]

College career

Southern Illinois

Coming into his freshman season, Cook missed some time with a torn labrum.[2] As a freshman, Cook played in 32 of SIU's 33 games, playing backup point guard and averaged 3.0 points and 0.9 assists in 10.6 minutes of play.[4] On January 24, 2018, Cook scored a career-high 25 points in an 82–77 win versus Indiana State.[5] On February 14, he sank the game-winning free throws with 4.1 seconds remaining in an 81–80 overtime win against Missouri State.[6] As a sophomore, Cook averaged 9.8 points and 2.7 assists per game.[7] Cook started 32 of 33 games, led the team in 3-point shooting percentage at 38.4 percent, tied Marcus Bartley for the team lead with 90 assists, and finished with 47 steals.[8] He was named to the MVC Most-Improved Team as well as the MVC All-Academic Second-Team.[9][10] Cook scored a junior season-high 23 points on December 8, in an 83–73 victory over Southeast Missouri State.[11] In his junior year, Cook started every game, averaging 10.5 points and 3.7 assists per game, and was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team.[7][12] As a senior, Cook played in just six games before breaking his right hand in a loss to Murray State. Despite initially being ruled out for four to six weeks, Cook took a medical redshirt and missed the remainder of the season.[13][14] Cook was leading the Salukis in scoring (15.0 points per game) and assists (3.3 per game) before he was sidelined with the injury, and he was named to the Sunshine Slam All-Tournament team.[15]

Gonzaga

On April 7, 2020, Cook announced that he was transferring to Gonzaga for his redshirt senior season.[7] He chose the Bulldogs over offers from DePaul, Arkansas and Santa Clara.[10] Cook averaged 4.2 points, 1.7 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game.[16]

Georgia

On May 24, 2021, Cook announced he was transferring to Georgia, taking advantage on an additional season of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[16] On November 16, he scored 22 points in a 76–60 victory over South Carolina State and surpassed the 1,000-point threshold.[17]

Career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

College
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2016–17 Southern Illinois 32010.6.333.185.776.8.91.0.33.0
2017–18 Southern Illinois 333230.0.439.384.6962.32.71.4.39.8
2018–19 Southern Illinois 323232.8.396.348.6512.43.71.3.310.5
2019–20 Southern Illinois 6631.2.552.273.5913.03.33.2.215.0
2020–21 Gonzaga 30113.4.500.350.6571.61.7.9.14.2
2021–22 Georgia 313132.2.381.282.7052.75.41.4.210.5
Career 16410224.2.415.326.6862.02.91.4.27.9

Personal life

Cook is the son of Aaron Cook Sr. and Regina Cook. His father was a star basketball player at Jennings High in suburban St. Louis and is in that school's athletic hall of fame. From there, his father matriculated to what is now known as Harris-Stowe State University, where he was a four-year starter for the Hornets in the NAIA (small-college classification). Aaron Cook Jr's grandfather, Jimmie Cook, was an immensely successful high school coach in St. Louis, leading the McKinley High Goldbugs to the 1982 Missouri Class 2A boys state basketball title.

See also

References
  1. Hefferman, Todd (October 2, 2015). "Westminster's Aaron Cook verbally commits to SIU men". The Southern Illinoisan. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  2. Gaertner, Jacob (May 4, 2016). "SIU basketball incoming freshman could miss time". Daily Egyptian. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  3. Manson, Jon (August 20, 2015). "2016 BASKETBALL PROSPECT: PG AARON COOK". A Sea of Red. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  4. "Aaron Cook College Stats". sports-reference.com. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  5. "S. Illinois fends off Indiana St. rally for 82–77 win". ESPN. Associated Press. January 24, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  6. Weber, Tom (February 14, 2018). "Men's Basketball wins OT thriller over Missouri State, 81–80". SIUSalukis.com. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  7. Meehan, Jim (April 7, 2020). "Southern Illinois grad transfer Aaron Cook Jr. commits to Gonzaga". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  8. Hefferman, Todd (November 7, 2018). "Aaron Cook used to taking big shots". The Southern Illinoisan. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  9. Dodd, Nathan (February 28, 2018). "SIU basketball earns three more All-MVC awards". Daily Egyptian. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  10. Meehan, Jim (April 8, 2020). "Newest Zag Aaron Cook well aware of Gonzaga's recent success with grad transfer guards". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  11. "Lloyd, Cook combine for 48, lead S. Illinois to 83–73 win". ESPN. Associated Press. December 8, 2018. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  12. "BARTLEY, COOK NAMED TO MVC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE TEAMS". Southern Illinois Salukis. March 7, 2019. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  13. Hefferman, Todd (November 21, 2019). "Salukis lose Cook for 4–6 weeks to broken hand". The Southern Illinoisan. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  14. Hefferman, Todd (April 7, 2020). "Former Saluki Aaron Cook commits to Gonzaga". The Southern Illinoisan. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  15. "Zags Add Southern Illinois Transfer Aaron Cook". Gonzaga Bulldogs. April 16, 2020. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  16. Meehan, Jim (May 24, 2021). "Former Gonzaga guard Aaron Cook transferring to Georgia". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  17. "Cook tops milestone, Georgia beats South Carolina St. 76–60". ESPN. Associated Press. November 16, 2021. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
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