SPOKANE, Wash. — Gonzaga fans have patiently waited the past few weeks to see who the team would pick up on the transfer market.
Tuesday night, they got their man.
"It was a great feeling. Lifted a heavy weight off my shoulders just knowing that the process was finally over. The recruiting process is very stressful," said Southern Illinois grad transfer Aaron Cook.
As for the feeling when the Southern Illinois grad transfer first heard from Gonzaga?
"It was surreal to me to hear from a school of such high stature. I was like, 'Man, this is real?'" said Cook.
The response the point guard got from social media to his commitment was a bit surreal as well.
"It was unbelievable. I didn’t expect it to blow up like that at all. I think that might be the first time I’ve gotten a thousand likes on anything," Cook said with a laugh. "It was crazy seeing the support and all the fans reaching out saying welcome to Gonzaga. It just made me more excited, and I can’t wait to get there and get to work."
And when he gets to work, he’ll be a veteran on a team filled with young talent.
"They told me that they wanted a guard that could handle ball pressure, bring the ball up the floor," said Cook of the coaching staff. "They also wanted a guard that could defend on the perimeter. Like I said earlier, they wanted the maturity aspect of it, the experience."
Cook feels his game matches perfectly with Gonzaga’s needs.
"Offensively, I’d say I’m more a true point guard. I like to facilitate and get my teammates involved. I like to be a vocal leader and lead by example and make everybody else better," he said. "That’s my offensive game, but I’m really a defensive minded player. I love playing defense and getting steals. I had one game this past season before I got hurt where I had seven steals in a game. I really pride myself on my defense and being able to contribute on that end of the floor."
Cook also hopes he can contribute in perhaps the most meaningful way of all: winning a national championship.
"It means everything," said Cook of playing for a team competing for a title. "That’s what I told coach when he asked me what I was looking for in a new school. I told him I just want to go somewhere where I have a significant role, be able to prove myself, be able to play a decent amount of minutes, and also win on a high level. I knew that Gonzaga was the top of the list when it came to all three of those categories."