NEW ORLEANS – Tulane University men’s basketball head coach Ron Hunter’s effort to fortify the foundation of the program took another step forward with the signing of transfer guard and 2019 Mr. Louisiana Basketball Jalen Cook.
Baker will have four years of eligibility remaining and becomes the program’s third newcomer this spring along with UNC Asheville transfer DeVon Baker and La Salle University graduate transfer Scott Spencer.
“We are extremely excited to bring a young man like Jalen into our program,” Hunter said. “He earned a lot of big-time accolades as a prep player in this state, and he’s a dynamic player that can do a lot of different things. We can’t wait to feel the immediate impact he’s going to have on our team.”
A 6’0 guard, Cook arrives at Tulane after appearing in 20 games as a freshman at LSU in 2020-21. The Walker, Louisiana native shot nearly 46 percent from the field and just shy of 44 percent from 3-point range while registering 16 assists and 16 steals on the season. He scored a season-high 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting with a pair of treys and two assists in just nine minutes of action at Georgia.
Cook enjoyed a decorated career at Walker High School where he scored over 3,200 points and led the Wildcats to their first Class 5A LHSAA state title as a sophomore in 2018. He followed that up with a breakthrough junior campaign in 2019 highlighted by his 29.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game en route to being honored with the prestigious Farm Bureau/Mr. Basketball Award and a return trip to the state title game. Additional accolades for Cook include being tabbed the Gatorade Louisiana Player of the Year, USA Today Louisiana Player of the Year and Louisiana High School Basketball Coaches Association’s state MVP.
As a senior in 2020, Cook put up 29.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per contest before earning his fourth consecutive selection to The New Orleans Advocate/Times Picayune’s Class 5A All-District First Team and second straight MVP award.
A consensus four-star recruit, Cook was listed as the No. 123 overall prospect nationally in the 2020 class in the final Rivals150 rankings and regarded as the No. 2 overall prospect in the state according to 247sports.com.
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{Courtesy: Press Release from Tulane Athletics}
