Former Duke star Quinn Cook is ready for his NBA close-up

Win the NCAA National Title, get drafted to a winning organization and enjoy a long professional career in the NBA. That was the plan, at least, but Quinn Cook found out on draft night that sometimes plans have to change.

“That was a long day for me, man,” Cook recently told U&M. “It’s been a long journey to get here and nothing was ever given to me, so I regrouped and starting working right away. The disappointment has fueled me ever since.”

It was clear in Cook’s voice that he is still crushed by the outcome of going undrafted after a wildly successful four years at Duke University. He has good reason to feel that way, too. While his NCAA numbers weren’t staggering, the intangibles Cook brought combined with his skillset should have been enough to get him a second round look.

Since it wasn’t meant to be, Cook took the road often traveled by undrafted rookies and headed to NBA Summer League for a chance to prove himself all over again. First up was Orlando, where he played for the Oklahoma City Thunder and averaged 10.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists over five games. That was enough to grab the attention of general manager David Griffin, who clearly saw some potential in the 6-2 point guard by inviting him to Vegas for another audition — this time, with the Cavaliers.

“Summer League was great,” Cook said. “I played a ton with OKC. I learned from Mo Cheeks and coach Billy Donovan, and I learned a lot. Vegas with the Cavs, I didn’t play as much but it was still a good experience. Mostly, I learned I’m an NBA player and I can play with these guys.”

Cook was eventually invited to training camp with the Cavaliers, and while he was the last player waived (losing out to former D-League star Jared Cunningham) he has taken that confidence with him to the Canton Charge. Cook leads the team in minutes and points per game, and his tenacious on-ball defense is beloved by his head coach Jordi Fernandez.

The Charge play a grind-it-out style, which isn’t the norm in the NBADL, where teams consistently score over 100 points and shoot a high volume of 3-pointers. While the pace may be slow comparatively, though, it has still been an adjustment for Cook.

“The game is much faster,” he said. “The players are faster, they’re bigger, they’re stronger and I’m required to be much quicker on my decision making. Honestly, I didn’t expect the D-League to be this competitive, so that’s been a nice surprise.”

Cook is a point guard. If he wants to play at the NBA level, he will certainly play that position. But he’s had the luxury of playing off the ball the majority of the time in his rookie year, which has allowed him to showcase his shooting ability. The Charge have NBA veteran Jorge Gutierrez manning the lead guard spot, and Cook has filled the role as a scorer to perfection. He is averaging 19.2 points and 4.6 assists through the first 27 games of the season, shooting 45 percent from the field (16.0 attempts) and 39 percent from 3-point range (5.4 attempts).

While 39 percent may not sound better than average, that number has risen each month of the season. Cook started his pro career by shooting 33 percent in November and saw that quickly improve to 37 percent in December. Now, he’s coming off of his best month yet, where he converted 43 percent of his 3-pointers in January.

Clearly, Cook is trending the right direction.

Nonetheless, one scout told U&M that Cook has more to prove if he has any hope of making the NBA — “Cook has got to show he can run a team, distribute and hit open shots,” he said. This topic arose during our conversation, and Quinn minced no words in his response: “Look man, any scout who has watched me play during my college career knows I can do all of those things. My role on this team is to score. If coach says they need me to score, then I’m gonna go out there and score.”

The Charge are a defense-first squad and coach Fernandez holds each and every player to that standard. Cook has been up to the challenge — his on-ball defense has been stellar all season, and he’s getting better at being in the right position off-ball. At 22-years-old, there is still plenty to learn and while Duke has produced many NBA talents, there are few rookies who weren’t faced with a lengthy adjustment period.

One of the many obstacles rookies are faced with is filling all the downtime that comes with playing basketball for a living. Players go from having their entire day scheduled to worrying about just one practice. Cook is among the lucky ones who can still reach out to their past mentors during these times — he’s even more fortunate that his mentor is one of the game’s all-time greats.

“My best memory [at Duke] was learning from Coach K,” Cook said. “Just talking to him over the years and taking what knowledge I could from him. We have a great relationship. Twice a week I talked to coach. He’s busy with the season but he always finds time to call or text me when I have a big game.”

The two have likely exchanged a number of messages lately, since big games are becoming the norm for Cook. He averaged an impressive 21.5 points per game in the month of January, much of which can be attributed to increased aggression driving to the basket. Just two weeks ago, he posted a career-high 32 points in a win against the Maine Red Claws. Three games later, he bested that mark with 33 points in an overtime loss to the Delaware 87ers.

As a result, Cook has helped propel Canton to a 14-13 record with 23 games remaining in the season. It won’t be easy, but a trip to the playoffs is certainly on the cards.

Some people are just winners, and Quinn is one of them. He won at Oak Hill Academy, he won at Duke University, and that’s his main focus in the D-League. When I asked him his goals for the rest of the way, the answer was swift and firm: “Keep winning,” Cook said. “I want to keep getting better and I really want to be on an NBA roster by the end of the season.”

Based on Cook’s past, you’d be silly to question whether or not that is attainable.