Quinn Cook Making Case For First Team All-ACC
The Duke Blue Devils are having an outstanding season sitting at 25-3 after holding off a feisty Virginia Tech squad on Wednesday night. Much of the praise for the great season has gone to the freshmen, whether it be Jahlil Okafor or Tyus Jones, but the real key to the teams success might actually be their lone senior, Quinn Cook, who has put himself in the conversation for first team all-ACC.
Cook is having a career best season so far with career high numbers basically across the board. He is averaging 16 points per game while shooting 47 percent from the field and 42 percent from three point range. His assist numbers are down to three per game, but thats because he is playing shooting guard this year.
Cook has scored in double figures in all but three games this season, and has really turned it on of late. In four of the past five games he has surpassed the 20 point mark, with the other game being a 17 point outing at Syracuse.
Cooks numbers look great but his real value cannot be told just by his numbers. Cook has really taken on a leadership role with this young Duke team. They start three freshmen which typically would mean a lot of young mistakes but Cook has really not allowed that to happen, and he has been able to keep the young guys heads in the right place throughout the season.
Coming into this season there were questions about whether Cook would be able to, or want to coexist with top recruit Tyus Jones, after all Cook had been the teams starting point guard the past two seasons. But instead of feeling like he was pushed aside Cook has handled it tremendously and has really taken Jones under his wing.
Not everyone would take being moved off the point guard position so well in their senior season, but Cook has thrived as the shooting guard for the Blue Devils and now makes up half of one of the best backcourts in the country.
The ACC is a very good league with a lot of really good players so making the first team all-ACC is going to be tough. There are probably two locks to make the first team and they are national player of the year candidates Jahlil Okafor and Jerian Grant of Notre Dame, but after that the other three spots are up in the air.
Cooks main competition for that final guard spot comes from Louisville’s Terry Rozier, Virginia’s Malcolm Brogdon, and Boston College’s Olivier Hanlan. Obviously there are a wealth of candidates to fill those final three spots and maybe Cook won’t get onto the first team, but he has at least put himself in the conversation and that is much more than anybody expected coming into this season.