By Dylan Butler
“Hey O, in here,” said Jarvis as he pointed toward the room packed with members of the media. “You better get used to this.”
It was perhaps the only wrong turn Cook made in his college debut. And what a debut it was. Under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden, in front of 16,415 in attendance and a national television audience, the freshman point guard played with the poise of a grizzled veteran in his much-anticipated collegiate opener.
Cook scored 18 points, including five three-pointers. He added a game-high five assists, many of the spectacular variety, as well as two steals in 38 minutes in the 62-61 win over the Wildcats. He sat just two minutes after being carried off the court because of leg cramps.
“It was very exciting,” Cook said after the game. “These guys helped me out a lot, they let me get comfortable and play. When the team is down, it's my job to pick them up and I was just getting people the ball and playing defense. I shot the ball well tonight and people started to pick up along the way.”
It looked like Madison Square Garden and Cook were made for each other. On center stage in the World's Most Famous Arena was the 6-foot-1 point guard from Brooklyn, lighting up the crowd with end-to-end bursts, no-look passes in the lane – with fellow freshman Kyle Cuffe
