Fourth and foremost

Sporting News, The, Dec 4, 2000 by Mike DeCourcy

With Frank Williams, Marcus Griffin and Cory Bradford drawing the attention, it's easy to overlook Illinois' most gifted player: versatile --and patient--power forward Brian Cook

The public-address system in the Lahaina Civic Center is more than adequate, but with the ceiling only a few feet from the floor and the standing-room crowd numbering just 2,500, the announcement lacks a sense of majesty. "For the University of Illinois, at forward, 6-foot-11 sophomore Brian Cook." There is no echoing roar. Just a simple declarative statement, an appreciative cheer and on to the next guy.

It ought to be a bigger deal.

Even in a world in which players with less talent and less experience already are playing in the NBA, Cook's full-time presence in the Illinois starting lineup is significant. This wasn't easy or automatic. This was something he had to earn. In a sport in which patience is as outdated as the two-handed set shot, Cook was required to wait.

"It was real difficult. I was wondering why I wasn't out there," Cook says. During a freshman season in which he played 595 minutes--and sat another possible 685--he frequently wondered what he needed to do to earn consistent playing time. "That entered my mind a lot," he says.

This no longer is a problem. Cook now plays as long as he can stay fresh and out of foul trouble, and Illinois is eager to squeeze all it can from his wide variety of basketball skills.

He is not the Illini's most important player; that is Frank Williams, the 6-3 sophomore point guard who averaged 23.3 points and 6.0 rebounds in guiding the team to a runner-up finish in perhaps the most competitive Maul Invitational ever.

He is not the Illini's most powerful inside force; that is Marcus Griffin, who shot .545 from the field in the three games.

And he's not the team's most hyped player; that's shooting guard Cory Bradford.

Cook is the Illini's most gifted player.

Though he is just an inch removed from 7-footer status, he is a proficient 3-point shooter, a deft passer, a shot-blocking defender and a capable ballhandler. Bill Self, in his first season coaching the Illini, smiles wide when he says of Cook, "I just think ... I think he's going to be awesome."

In establishing itself as an early Final Four contender with victories over UNLV and Maryland and a close loss to Arizona in the Maul title game, Illinois used Cook as though he were Meryl Streep--he played every role imaginable. When Maryland extended its defense, Cook was the outlet to relieve pressure. He was a trailer in the secondary break a dangerous long-range threat to defenders accustomed to rushing back and guarding the lane. He positioned himself at the free-throw line and delivered high-low entry passes to Griffin. He set up in the low post.

It's common for a player who can do so many different things to have trouble figuring out what he ought to be doing for his team, where he belongs at a given moment. Cook does not perceive a problem in this regard.

"I just think I belong on the court."

It has been that way from birth. Whether basketball is a matter of nature or nurture, Brian Cook inherited the game from both directions. His father, Norm Cook, was a star at Kansas after a standout career at Lincoln High in Illinois and then played in the NBA. His mother, Joyce, played for a state championship at Lincoln.

Joyce Cook raised Brian by herself and introduced him to the game. His mother did not merely give Brian a ball and a hoop and turn him loose. She taught him how to box out while chasing rebounds. She taught him scoring moves while playing him one-on-one.

She taught him patience, as well. In the 1999 McDonald's All-American Game, Brian Cook played with three guys who already are in the NBA: Donnell Harvey, DerMarr Johnson and Jonathan Bender. Cook is in no hurry to grow up like that. "A big kid is what he is," Joyce says.

On many weekends this autumn, before basketball became full time, he made the hour-long drive home to Lincoln for some of his mother's chicken alfredo and the chance to play pickup ball and go fishing with friends from high school.

"Most of us on the team are from Illinois, but they're from a city," Cook says.

"I'm from a town."

Cook's relationship with his mother remains intensely dose. Joyce attends nearly every game. "I like to be down on the floor, so he can know I'm there," she says. "A couple games he didn't see me, and it was bothering him."

Brian does not have much contact with his father, but Norm Cook's experience in the game had a lasting impact. Norm entered the NBA draft after his junior season at Kansas and left without a degree. He became a first-round choice and lasted two j(ears with Boston and Denver, scoring 65 career points.

"We talked quite a bit about the league," Joyce says. "It's very important that he gets his degree, to me and him. I think he'll be more mature, bigger, ready for it all."

The early part of Cook's Maui adventure could not have been more pleasant He was excited to present his mother with the chance to visit Hawaii. And he gave her a show on the way to the final.