Star Gamecock freshman returning to home state, and ‘my city’ will be there to watch
In its season opener last Tuesday, Dayton women’s basketball welcomed 1,308 fans to its home arena.
When the Flyers welcome South Carolina on Wednesday night, the crowd might be a little larger, thanks to Gamecock freshman point guard Zia Cooke.
Cooke, a native of Toledo, Ohio, is expecting a huge group to make the two-hour trip from her hometown to University of Dayton Arena, and though she’s only been away for a few months, getting the chance to go back to the Midwest is something she’s relishing.
“It’s gonna mean a lot, just because my city will be there. You know, we got 100 people coming, my city will be there to watch me play,” Cooke said. “So that means a lot to me. And they can’t come all the way out (to Columbia) to see me, so for them to have the chance to see me in person feels good.”
Of those 100, 50 will be family members, Cooke said. And it wouldn’t be totally unexpected for even more fans to show up curious to see one of the most exciting Ohio basketball prospects of the past decade. Over the last 10 recruiting classes, just two players from the Buckeye State have been more more highly rated than Cooke, who finished at No. 4 in the class of 2019. She led Rogers High School to back-to-back state titles and became a viral sensation in Ohio.
And while fellow freshman Aliyah Boston has rightfully earned most of the attention thus far with her historic performance through the season’s first two games, Cooke has gotten off to a solid start of her own. With two starts, she’s averaging 11.5 points per game, third on the team, and 3.5 rebounds. In USC’s road upset of then-No. 4 Maryland, she struggled a bit with four turnovers and four fouls, but was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line and scored 10 points.
“That game was the only game that I was ever really nervous for,” Cooke said of Maryland. “So I feel like that was the game that I got my jitters out, because coach was telling me, ‘You’re gonna be nervous,’ and I was good all the rest of the games leading up to the Maryland game.”
Those nerves have led to some frantic plays in which Cooke can try to do too much, coach Dawn Staley said.
“I think she’s pressing a little bit. She’s really amped up. And I’d rather her be amped up than sedated,” Staley said. “She’s still trying to find her way with the speed of the game, what she needs to do. Becuase she’s got a lot of tools in her toolbox, and she just tries to use them all at once, rather than letting the game come to her a little bit and then imposing her will. But she’s all in and she’ll figure it out.”
Already, Cooke’s aggressiveness has led to some spectacular plays around the basket as she slices through traffic and makes acrobatic layups, much to the delight of the Gamecock faithful at Colonial Life Arena. But both she and Staley emphasized the work she’s been putting in to mesh her flair and athleticism within the system as a whole.
“It took a lot of film watching for me to notice like, ‘Oh, I missed this pass,’ or ‘I should have passed it here.’ But once the season got going and got started, that’s when it all clicked for me and I was able to go with the flow,” Cooke said.
But if the opportunity presents itself Wednesday night, don’t be surprised if Cooke goes off once more in Ohio.
NEXT
Who: No. 6 South Carolina (2-0) vs. Dayton (2-0)
When: 7 p.m., Wednesday
Where: University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio
Watch: Streaming online on ESPN+, additional subscription required
Listen: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
