By Dylan Butler
Omar Cook is known for his assists on the court, but last week the senior at Christ the King was doing his best off the court to help St. John's land recruit Darius Miles.
Cook has been talking to Miles, a St. John's signee, in Boston – site of the McDonald's All-American game – and in Indianapolis, where the two played for Team USA in the Hoop Summit All-Star game Sunday afternoon. Christ the King's 6-foot-1 senior point guard has been trying to sell Miles on the idea of heading to St. John's with him instead of going to the NBA.
“Everyday, everyday I try to convince him to come to St. John's,” Cook said. “Come to St. John's and we'll go to the Final Four, come to St. John's and we'll win a championship. He says he's coming, he's coming. He ain't coming.”
Miles, considered by many to be the top recruit in the country, has yet to reach the qualifying score on either the SAT or the ACT. He has said if he attains the score – he is three points shy of the qualifying score of 18 on the ACT – he will come to St. John's.
But if he doesn't and has a chance to be a lottery pick?
“It'll be another story,” he said.
“I think it's like a 30 percent chance,” Cook said of the possibility the 6-foot-9 forward from East St. Louis, Ill. would come to St. John's. “He boosted his stock a lot at the McDonald's All-American Game. He could go from four to 20 in the draft. What would you do?”
In the McDonald's game, played before a sell-out crowd of 18,624 at the Fleet Center last Wednesday, Miles wowed the crowd with numerous electrifying dunks. He also showed he can handle the ball and has an explosive move to the basket. He finished with 17 points and six rebounds in a losing effort as the West defeated the East 146-120.
In Team USA's 98-97 win over an international all-star team Sunday, Miles had 15 points, eight rebounds and a team-high three steals.
Cook, who had eight points, four rebounds and three assists in the McDonald's Game, added 14 points, shot 2-2 from three-point range and had six assists Sunday.
“I told Omar I'm coming to St. John's, but he doesn't believe me,” Miles said. “If I made the test, I'll probably be there.”
Taliek Brown, from point guard rich LeFrak City, also played in the McDonald's All-American game. The St. John's Prep senior guard and Connecticut signee had 11 points, six assists and four rebounds for the East squad. Fellow New York City point guard Andre Barrett from Rice also starred for the East. The Seton Hall-signee had seven points, four rebounds and 12 assists, one shy of Jacques Vaughn's record 13 assists, set in 1993.
“It's nice playing with guys like this,” Brown said. “They made me look good.”
Chicago was the site of yet another high school all-star game as New York took on Chicago in the Wendy's All-Star Shootout at the University of Illinois-Chicago Sunday.
Team Chicago avenged a 105-87 loss last year, and defeated Team New York 93-74. St. John's-bound Willie Shaw from PSAL champion John F. Kennedy had 12 points and nine rebounds for New York. Red Storm recruits Kyle Cuffe from Rice and Lincoln's Eric King were named to the team but elected not to play.
New York City hoop fans will get their chance to see these future stars play in the 26th annual Wheelchair Charities boys' basketball games, held at St. John's. After Bronx takes on Brooklyn and Queens faces Manhattan in games scheduled for Tuesday night, the consolation game will be played at 6:30 p.m. and the title game at 8 p.m. Thursday.
In addition to Cook and Brown, the Queens roster includes Craig Banton, a senior at Bayside; Kevin Fitzgerald, a senior at St. Francis Prep; Joel Suarez, a senior at St. Mary's; Francis Lewis junior Damien Herard; Dwayne Thompson, a senior at St. John's Prep; Ozzie Oyagha, a senior at Holy Cross; Cardozo senior Tremanye Singletary; Eric Ferguson, a senior at Hempstead, and Rashaun Banjo, a senior at Lawrence Woodmore Academy.
The girls' games will be played April 11 and 13 at Elmcor in Corona. The games will benefit Wheelchair Charities Inc., a non-profit organization which provides assistance and equipment for paraplegics and quadriplegics.
