Gregory Olin Cook (December 8, 1958 – March 19, 2005) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Nicknamed "Cookieman", he played collegiately for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...

and was renowned for his defensive prowess. Cook posted his best statistics during his freshman season in 1976–77 when he averaged 11.5 points and 9.2 rebounds. He sat out the 1977–78 season before returning for his three final seasons. During those years, Cook helped lead the Tigers to an

SEC tournament The Southeastern Conference (SEC) sponsors nine men's sports and twelve women's sports. This is a list of conference champions for each sport. Also see the list of SEC national champions. Members The SEC was established on December 1932, when t ...

championship in 1980 and an NCAA Final Four appearance in 1981. He was selected by the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

as the 40th overall pick in the

1981 NBA draft The 1981 NBA draft was the 35th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 9, 1981, before the 1981–82 season. The draft was broadcast in the United States on the USA Network. In this draft, 23 NBA te ...

but never played in the league. Cook played briefly in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

(CBA), appearing in five games for the

Wyoming Wildcatters The Wyoming Wildcatters were a professional basketball team based in Casper, Wyoming. They played 6 seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), the defunct development league for the National Basketball Association (NBA). They manag ...

in the 1984–85 season. Cook died in his sleep in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, aged 46.

Career statistics

College

, - , style="text-align:left;", 1976–77 , style="text-align:left;",

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, 27 , , 27 , , 30.1 , , .462 , , – , , .589 , , 9.2 , , 1.9 , , – , , – , , 11.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1978–79 , style="text-align:left;",

, 28 , , – , , – , , .465 , , – , , .617 , , 6.3 , , 2.1 , , – , , – , , 6.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1979–80 , style="text-align:left;",

, 31 , , – , , 29.1 , , .400 , , – , , .659 , , 5.8 , , 2.7 , , 1.1 , , .2 , , 4.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1980–81 , style="text-align:left;",

, 33 , , 26 , , 28.6 , , .564 , , – , , .710 , , 5.3 , , 1.6 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 9.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 119 , , 53 , , 29.2 , , .480 , , – , , .646 , , 6.6 , , 2.1 , , 1.0 , , .1 , , 7.8

References

External links

College statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Greg 1958 births 2005 deaths Abraham Clark High School alumni African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Newark, New Jersey Centers (basketball) LSU Tigers basketball players New York Knicks draft picks People from Roselle, New Jersey Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Union County, New Jersey Wyoming Wildcatters players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people