Aaron Cook steps up his game in sophomore season

By Sean Carley  siusalukis.com

CARBONDALE — Last year’s Saluki squad was loaded with senior leadership with three seniors in the starting lineup. This year, the team is leaning on one of its younger players to step into a pivotal role left by the departure of point guard Mike Rodriguez.

Aaron Cook against Louisville earlier this year. (siusalukis.com)

Originally projected as a backup to Marcus Bartley, sophomore Aaron Cook became the team’s starting point guard when Bartley broke his wrist in preseason.

The man who practices with the word “family” on the back of his jersey is in the driver’s seat of the Saluki offense and has performed beyond his age, dropping a career-high 20 points in his home debut against UIS and leading the team in 3-point shooting percentage (.471).

“I’ve definitely focused on being a more vocal leader,” Cook said. “That’s one thing I’ve really improved on and it’s really helped me progress from last year. My teammates and I can talk to each other about anything at just about any time. Family is really big here.”

He attributes a lot of his growth to his mentor in college basketball and the former vocal leader of the Salukis — Rodriguez.

“Mike showed me all the loops and everything about college basketball,” Cook said. “He’s done everything to help my confidence and he’s a really good friend.”

The St. Louis native played in all but one contest last season as SIU’s backup point guard, learning the ropes and the rigors of Divison I basketball.

“Last year really prepared me for this year because I had the experience of being able to play against those top schools,” he said. “This year, I’m definitely feeling more comfortable, so I have a better understanding and get the feel of the game down.”

Cook’s growing maturity on the court can be seen most clearly in his increased offensive output this season. He has more than doubled his scoring average and has already made more threes (8) this season than all of last year (5).

The St. Louis native has always been a scorer as evidenced by his 22.1 points per game as a senior at Westminster Christian Academy, but he said he’s trying to become a more rounded player.

“[Being a scorer] is something I’ve always been, but at the same time it’s a lot harder to score at the college level than it is at the high school level,” Cook said. “It’s definitely something I put work in during summer for and something I had to get better at and the coaches let me know that.”

One of those offseason methods was watching extra film of his favorite professional players.

“I try to take the best qualities of a lot of different point guards and see how they fit into my game,” Cook said. “Chris Paul is the guy I always go to, I feel like he’s the one true point guard in the NBA, he’s not all about scoring points, then I feel like I have the athleticism to play like Russell Westbrook.”

Cook also tries to remain true to his own style that he built off his upbringing in the Gateway City, where he played with many highly rated players, including Saint Louis point guard Jordan Goodwin, who he faced last night.

Staying close to home was a big part of Cook’s reason for coming to Carbondale, where his parents Aaron Sr. and Regina can come to his games.

“It’s always nice to be able to play near my hometown,” he said. “My family can always come out and they get to see me play against a lot of these guys I grew up with.”