Cooks brings Australian flavor to Aggies
Ask Dominique Cooks what stood out to him about Utah State basketball and the answers seem to mirror the appeal that Aggie basketball has to most.
“Probably the crowd and the Spectrum,” Cooks said, “as well as the fact that coach Morrill has been here forever pretty much. Also the fact that they win.”
The freshman guard’s pathway to USU from Wollongong, Australia, is of a different variety than that of most recruits experience. Cooks found his way to Utah State without having ever had the chance to experience a game in the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum or by meeting personally with the coaching staff, but instead communicated with the coaches through video of his play and phone calls.
“I was sending tapes out and had a couple guys in the states helping me out, as well,” Cooks said. “From there I got in touch with Assistant Coach (Tim) Duryea and sent USU a tape which they liked.”
Cooks said he was recruited by five or six other schools besides Utah State, but made his decision to become an Aggie after doing some digging on the Internet about the atmosphere of Aggie basketball at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum
“I found out about it on YouTube, saw some pretty cool clips and some pretty exciting stuff,” Cooks said.
Cooks also said that Duryea explained the Spectrum atmosphere to him enough to get him excited about the prospect of playing in front of it.
Coming to the United States to play basketball has had its fair share of adjustments for Cooks thus far.
“It’s a little bit more structured here than the league I was playing in,” Cooks said. “It’s faster, as well. There’s more athletes.”
On top of the difference in basketball play, Cooks has also been adjusting to a different culture from that with which he’s familiar.
“It’s pretty different,” Cooks said of his experience thus far in the U.S. compared to Australia. “It’s no better or worse, but it just takes a little while to adjust. The people here are really nice.”
Cooks’ playing experience prior to college basketball is also of a different variety from the setup of high school and traveling basketball teams that is common in the United States. Australia has playing associations for different youth age-groups and from there players play for state teams.
In the two years prior to Cooks’ arrival at Utah State he played for the Illawarra Seahawks club team. He was named 2008 Player of the Year of the Illawarra Basketball Association by averaging approximately 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists per game.
Cooks will spend the 2008-2009 season as a redshirt year, making his impact on the playing floor at least a year away, but Cooks is pleased thus far with how his basketball career is coming along.
“I was just lucky,” Cooks said. “The situation worked out, I was able to come and I’m happy to be here.”
–matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu