Omar Cook

[MJDinkins]

1.  My grandmother (rest her soul) came into the den once while I was watchng a game and not knowing anything said of Baldi "he has the map of Italy written all over his face."  enough said.

2.  I never get the Zendon hate that some have.  All he did was average almost a double double for his career.  No, he did not live up to the top 5 national HS rank, but he was a great player for us.

3.  My least favortie players (sorry guys):  Alph Bangura; Jack Wolfinger; Andre Stanely, Sean Muto.  

Andre took care of sick mother and would take the train from Bk to campus at 5am for morning practice. Should be one of the last people that gets hate on here.

Stanley was a good story and someone whom you could root.  But I don't think he should've been playing as much as he did.  We can thank Jarvis and his lack of recruiting for that.  

 

[redmanwest]

No "hate".  And the fact that he was not a favorite doesn't make him ( or me) a bad person.   He was in over his head.  And yeah, maybe I'm tinged by the fact that we were forced to play him due to the predicament we were in.   

 

[room112]

1.  My grandmother (rest her soul) came into the den once while I was watchng a game and not knowing anything said of Baldi "he has the map of Italy written all over his face."  enough said.

2.  I never get the Zendon hate that some have.  All he did was average almost a double double for his career.  No, he did not live up to the top 5 national HS rank, but he was a great player for us.

3.  My least favortie players (sorry guys):  Alph Bangura; Jack Wolfinger; Andre Stanely, Sean Muto.  

Andre took care of sick mother and would take the train from Bk to campus at 5am for morning practice. Should be one of the last people that gets hate on here.

On a related note, will always have fond memories of that 2001-2002 team due to that documentary that was filmed for ESPN. 

 

[monte]

1.  My grandmother (rest her soul) came into the den once while I was watchng a game and not knowing anything said of Baldi "he has the map of Italy written all over his face."  enough said.

2.  I never get the Zendon hate that some have.  All he did was average almost a double double for his career.  No, he did not live up to the top 5 national HS rank, but he was a great player for us.

3.  My least favortie players (sorry guys):  Alph Bangura; Jack Wolfinger; Andre Stanely, Sean Muto.  

I don't get the Zendon hate either, but still I wouldn't say he was a "great" player for us. 
 

 

[redmannorth]

I don't think Cook ever wanted to be here, and left as soon as possible. I think that's what bugs me about him.

Looks good in the clips, though. Could probably play over there until he's 45.

correct you are , he never wanted to be here and fell into our lap at the last moment. That is why I was not surprised he left after 1 season. He was outstanding but the other members of that highly rated freshman class developed very poorly if at all under Jarvis. He was a first round pick so we can't say he made a poor choice in leaving early and has been playing pro for 20 years. I hope that he has been well advised and has been putting money away the entire time he has been in Europe. If that is the case he will be laughing when he returns to the US. Wishing Omar the very best. 

 

[fan since 65]

Bobby Kelly & Matt Brust

Always enjoyed Matt Brust play..I used to rent Dutch Ouderkirk's house in Westhampton Beach in the summers with Dennis Myron and others.  We played wiffleball in the backyard and Matt Brust and I were undefeated.  /media/kunena/emoticons/smile.png  He worked as a bouncer at Casey's until someone ratted him out to Coach C.  That career was over quick.

 

[Andrew]

Cook played for us the season after we won our last NCAA tournament game. Its been a long 20 years. Impressive that he is still playing pro ball.

 

[section10]

cook was 2nd round/3rd pick.
cook wore the red and white but his heart was carolina blue.

what is with the matt brust blasting?
not the most talented player, not the most athletic player but he personified 110%.

the player that was my least favorite - the guy that quit on coach lou with 2 game left to play. name escapes me.

 

[RedmanMike]

I agree with a lot of what's been said on this interestong thread.

Omar Cook, while a very good player for the year he was here, always wanted to be in Carolina and only fell into our laps when Carolina coach Bill Guthridge (remember him?) offered PG Ron Boone (I think), and he committed quickly.  Cook should have stayed a Johnny for one more year so he could have played with Marcus Hatten.  They would have been one of the top five backcourts in the country, and we would have been REALLY good.

Andre Stanley had a great story, and was always a hustler.  Turned down a scholarship to a D2 school I believe to walk-on with us.  Tough not to like him and respect what he went through.

I understand the feelings toward Zendon, but he was a very good four-year player.  Not a complete player by any means, and he was a black hole at times, but he was a good low-post scorer and a tough rebounder, even if he didn't live up to the McD AA hype.  If those Felipe-Zendon teams had a top PG, they would have been viewed much differently - and Felipe would be talked about as a top five all-time Johnny.  Tarik Tuner and Mo Brown just weren't starting BE-caliber PGs.  More suited to be solid back-up/role players.

I also enjoyed that 2001-2002 team very much. It was basically Marcus Hatten and abunch of misfit toys, but they managed to win 20 games and make the Dance.  While I generally think Mike Jarvis was an overrated coach who though way too highly of himself, it's tough not to respect the coaching job he did that year.  The four-part ESPN documentary was excellent, and is still available on YouTube if anyone hasn't seen it.

 

[L J S A]

I agree with a lot of what's been said on this interestong thread.

Omar Cook, while a very good player for the year he was here, always wanted to be in Carolina and only fell into our laps when Carolina coach Bill Guthridge (remember him?) offered PG Ron Boone (I think), and he committed quickly. 

Adam Boone.

UNC told Cook he had to commit or they would take a verbal from someone else. Cook stalled and UNC called his bluff is they way I remember hearing things went down.

That recruiting approach worked out better later on when Roy Williams told Danny Green he needed his verbal or he was moving on to his next target. Green committed on the spot.