Cook sees national attention
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Chaminade High in St. Louis, Missouri, always seems to pump out talented basketball players, and that trend looks like it will continue in the class of 2016. Five-star small forward Jayson Tatum gets the most attention, but power forward Tyler Cook is a pretty good player in his own right.
Cook, a four-star prospect, averaged 15 points and 8.3 rebounds per game this season for Chaminade and also had a strong travel season last year playing with the St. Louis Eagles. His play over the past calendar year has led to schools all over the country extending scholarship offers. His list includes Florida, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri and many more. He's taken unofficial visits to Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri already.
Cook made his way to Lawrence, Kansas, back in October for "Late Night in the Phog".
"That was a really fun experience just seeing how the fans were and how they celebrate the Kansas program," Cook said. "It gives you an idea of what it would be like to be a player there because we got to sit up front and interact with the players. I got to talk to Coach (Bill) Self for a while too."
Kansas has now won 11 straight Big 12 titles, and Cook thinks there is a reason for that.
"They are really good and really well-coached. They always have the right pieces. I like the way they play. They get the ball inside a lot, especially to (Perry) Ellis."
Kansas State has also done a terrific job recruiting the Missouri native.
"Coach (Bruce) Weber is a really smart guy. He really knows what he's doing on the court as well as the assistant coaches. They don't have as many offensive weapons as Kansas does, but they were able to win games. That says a lot about their staff and the guys they have in their program."
Fred Hoiberg has Iowa State's program rolling and Cook likes the attention post players get in the Cyclones offense.
"I like the way Coach Hoiberg coaches his guys. Georges Niang plays the same position I would play and I like the way they use him in multiple ways. They play an inside-out game. They are very well-coached and win a lot of games."
Florida had a down year, but that hasn't impacted the way Cook views the Gators.
"I only got to see them play once or twice this season," Cook said. "Although they had a down year, it's hard to believe they'll have another one with Coach (Billy) Donovan and what he's done over the years. He said he'll be up here soon to talk to my family and I've been keeping up with the assistant coaches there too."
It's not unprecedented to see Donovan sign highly regarded players out of Cook's school. He's already reeled in two current NBA players out of Chaminade in Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal and Golden State Warriors power forward David Lee.
"I have a decent relationship with Brad. I talk to him every time he comes back into town. We went out to DC for a game against Dematha and got to speak to him, but I haven't asked him much about Florida. I did talk to David Lee since we play the same position and he went to our school as well. I just asked him how he liked it and what his experience was like as an inside player at Florida. Their advice means a lot, but I'm not sure how important it will be in my decision."
Cook likes the energy of the coaching staff Kim Anderson put together at Missouri.
"Missouri has been recruiting me pretty heavily for the last year or so now. They are always in contact with my family. They have a really good group of coaches. They have all young, optimistic coaches on their staff and they are trying to bring in more guys to turn that program around."
The question will be asked of Cook about whether he and Tatum will attend the same school.
"We never talk about it really, so it's not something we'll probably do. But, who knows? We obviously have a lot of time left in high school, but as of now, we haven't talked about it."
Cook doesn't want to let the recruiting process drag out, but he wants to do his due diligence on each school involved in his recruitment.
"I'm going to try to get it done as quickly as possible, but I'm also going to make sure I get it right. It just depends on how things play out. My relationship with the coaching staff is a big deal to me and their style of play and the other guys in my class are important too. Obviously academics are important as well."