Missouri State signs a juco

[Da Coach]

Chris Cooks, a junior college small forward at 6'4", 205 pounds, signed a LOI with Missouri State this afternoon. He had just visited Springfield this past weekend. He averaged 13.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.7 steals this season at Redland Junior College in Oklahoma. His other offers were from Georgia Southern and Florida Atlantic.

http://jucojunction.rivals.com/viewprospect.asp?Sport=2&pr_key=58714

Missouri State still has 1 scholarship to give and is entertaining Wade Knapp tomorrow and Thursday.

[BUBraves06]

I'm assuming this would give us the edge with regard to Knapp ... or no?

[Da Coach]

I do not think the SMS people would say that. This kid (Chris Cooks) is more of a small forward, while I think the see Knapp as a #4 and still want him, too.

I actually think Nevada may have the slightest edge over both BU and MSU. We should know in a few days.

[tornado]

Re: Missouri State signs a juco

Chris Cooks, a junior college small forward at 6'4", 205 pounds, signed a LOI with Missouri State .....

Chris Cooks is a 6-4 forward, who signed with Missouri State.
He is from Redlands Community College. This is the same team that Rodney Alexander plays for, and Rodney was the target of a recruiting battle among several BCS schools, and Illinois won the battle and Rodney will sign with Illinois.

But here are their respective stats - they were the two top scorers on the same Redlands juco team:

Rodney Alexander..26 games...FGs 134-228 (58.8%)...FTs 74-97 (76.3%)...3ptFG 17-49 (34.7%)...5.3rpg...2.0apg...1.5spg...13.8ppg
Chris Cooks...........28 games...FGs 145-225 (64.4%)...FTs 95-146 (65.1%)..3ptFG 0-0 (0%)...........7.6rpg...4.3apg...2.7spg...13.8ppg


The Missouri State signee beats (or equals) the UIUC signee in SIX of EIGHT categories that are cited.
The only thing Alexander seems to do better is takes more 3-pointers - although NOT especially proficient at them, and hits a higher pct. of FTs although in the end Cooks actually sank considerably MORE FTs.

So did Missouri State get a steal?
Or did Illinois get a highly touted non-contributor?

[Braves4Life]

My guess would be that Cooks lacks an outside shot -- he had no 3-point attempts. Maybe he also lacks some of the ballhandling skills of Alexander as well. At 6'4" he is a tweener who could excel inside at HS and JUCO level, but will need to develop guard skills at major college level.

Alexander is bigger, stronger, and appears to have an outside shot. He is a true forward.

Often, this subtle difference is what determines a prospect from a project.