By Anthony Bosco
Cook scorched the visiting team, made up of former collegiate stars, for a game-high 25 points, while dishing out eight assists and recording five steals and seven rebounds. The floor general played a team-high 34 minutes and turned the ball over only twice during the exhibition, the team's lone competitive test heading into Thursday's showdown with the Kentucky Wildcats at the Coaches vs. Cancer IKON Classic.
“I do whatever necessary for us to win,” Cook said after the game. “Coach gives me a lot of freedom.”
Usually it is team policy that freshmen do not speak to the media until after the first semester. But Cook's inaugural performance compelled head coach Mike Jarvis to waive the rule.
“For a freshman…he played pretty good basketball,” Jarvis said.
Cook was the first player introduced for the Red Storm, stepping into the spotlight on the darkened court to a loud ovation. He earned every bit of the applause almost immediately, keeping his team in a more-than-competitive first half against a team that showed it did not come to lose.
St. John's was shorthanded, however, missing freshman center Mohamed Diakite, who broke the fourth metacarpal on his left hand in practice last Wednesday and had surgery the following day during which two pins were inserted to stabilize the bone. He will be out a minimum of three weeks. Freshman Kyle Cuffe started in Diakite's stead against Double Pump, finishing with eight points and four rebounds.
Neither team scored a field goal until St. John's captain and lone senior Reggie Jessie scored at the 16:12 mark of the first half to give the Red Storm a 7-4 lead. But it wasn't until 9:05 showed on the clock that St. John's began to take command.
Sharif Fordham, a junior out of Far Rockaway, started a 12-5 run, including seven points by Cook. The Red Storm closed the half with seven more points by the freshman, who hit threes at 3:08 and 1:57, the latter giving St. John's a 40-29 lead.
Double Pump scored six straight points to end the half tailing by five, 40-35.
Cook was not the only member of the Red Storm to shine in the team's 2000-2001 debut. Jessie, a Queensbridge native out of Brooklyn's Bishop Loughlin, had a solid outing, finishing with 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists in just 24 minutes. Junior forward Anthony Glover had 10 points and six boards and freshman Willie Shaw added 10 points.
The team, however, was far from flawless, as Jarvis noted after the game.
“All in all we'll take it,” the coach said. “Tonight we began the journey.”
Jarvis added that the team missed some defensive assignments, needed to be more aggressive on offense and has to work on “the little things,” before taking on Kentucky and either UCLA or Kansas.
“I feel confident we'll be ready,” Jarvis said.
Against Double Pump, the team did not let up in the second half, though the visiting all-stars tried to make a game of it late, never allowing St. John's to pull away. Jarvis worked most of his players into the line-up in the second half, including raw 7-foot-3 freshman center Curtis Johnson.
The Red Storm's biggest lead of the night came with 5:10 remaining, when Shaw nailed a three to make the score 80-65. Double Pump closed the gap, 82-74, but junior Donald Emanuel sealed the win with his lone field goal of the game, a three-pointer with 2:03 remaining.
St. John's will officially open its season Thursday against Kentucky. Tipoff is 9 p.m. at Madison Square Garden. The team will play either UCLA or Kansas Friday at 6:30 or 9 p.m. Both games will be televised by ESPN and ESPN 2.
Notes: The Red Storm shot 43.2 percent from the field for the game and hit eight of 22 from three, six by Cook, who was 6-for-12.
Rounding out the St. John's scoring were Fordham with three, Abe Keita with four and Alpha Bangura with six. Jack Wolfinger, Johnson and second-year walk-on John Parker all played, but did not score.
Former Christ the King standout Kevin Simmons, later of Cal-Irvine and UNLV, finished with five points and 10 rebounds for Double Pump, which was led by former Atlanta Hawk Drew Barry's 22 points.
