Herbert Crook (born July 26, 1965) is a retired 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. He was a standout at the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

. He was a starter on the Cardinals' 1986 national championship team and was

Metro Conference The Metropolitan Collegiate Athletic Conference, popularly known as the Metro Conference, was an NCAA Division I athletics conference, so named because its six charter members were all in urban metropolitan areas, though its later members did n ...

player of the year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

as a junior.

College career

Crook, a 6'7" forward from Louisville,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

and attended Westport High School during his freshman year and then to Eastern High School. He played at

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

for

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

coach

Denny Crum Denzel Edwin "Denny" Crum (born March 2, 1937) is an American former men's college basketball coach at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001, compiling a record. He guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships ( 1980, 1986) and six Fin ...

. Crook was a three-year starter, and played for Louisville's national championship team in 1986, averaging 11.8 points and 6.5 assists that year. As a junior, Crook was named Metro Conference player of the year after 16.1 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. Crook finished his career in the top ten in a number of career statistical categories, including points, rebounds, minutes played, games played, field goals, free throws and free throw attempts.

Professional career

Following the completion of his college career, Crook was drafted by the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

in the third round (61st pick) of the

1988 NBA Draft The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their i ...

. However, Crook never played in the NBA. Crook did play two seasons 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 ...

. He averaged 11.7 points and 6.4 rebounds over 56 games with four different teams.1990–91 CBA Official Guide and Register, page 266 He played four seasons in the Finnish

Korisliiga The Korisliiga is the top-tier professional basketball league in Finland, comprising the top 12 teams of the country. In its current format, each team plays all other teams two times in the regular season, once at home and once away, for a total o ...

, averaging 27.0 points and 10.6 rebounds in 112 games. He won the Korisliiga championship in 1992 and led the league in scoring and rebounds the same year.

References

External links

Korisliiga statistics
at korisliiga.fi 1965 births Living people African-American basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Finland American men's basketball players Basketball players from Louisville, Kentucky Grand Rapids Hoops players Indiana Pacers draft picks La Crosse Catbirds players Louisville Cardinals men's basketball players Quad City Thunder players Small forwards Tulsa Fast Breakers players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople {{ULouisville-stub