Bio

Cooke's Panthers became known as "the two trees and three squirrels" during their national runner's up run in the 1959-60 season. One of those trees, Cooke stood tall against the rest that year, becoming just the second All-American in school history and earned the Welch Trophy as Chapman's MVP. The Panthers went 24-6 that year and lost to Evansville in the national championship team - Chapman's deepest postseason run ever - and Cooke was also named to the championships All-Tournament team.

One year earlier, Cooke played alongside the Panthers' first All-American Bob Hamblin as the two helped Chapman to a 23-win season, a No. 7 national ranking and a berth at the NCAA Regionals. Cooke set a school record with 36 rebounds in one game versus Cal Poly Pomona and went on to set the single-season rebounding record with 576. He earned the first of his two All-Region nods and was named the MVP of the Redlands Tournament that season. He finished his career with 1,135 career rebounds (third all-time) and was named to Don Perkins' All-Time Chapman team in 1964.