LEVI COOK COMMITS TO WEST VIRGINIA - ALL-MET ELITE

LEVI COOK COMMITS

 TO

WEST VIRGINIA
ALL-MET ELITE

 

MORGANTOWN -   Levi Cook would have committed to West Virginia University a month ago, but the timing just was not right. The Liberty High School (Raleigh County, W.Va.) center has been a Mountaineer fan his entire life, so when Bob Huggins and his staff extended an offer to the sophomore for the class of 2015, he knew exactly what his response would be.

But Cook felt an obligation to his late grandfather, who passed away in 2007, to hold off his commitment for another month. On Wednesday, he let the WVU staff know his decision.

"It's my Papaw's dream for me to commit and today's his birthday," Cook said late Wednesday. "I wanted to commit the day they offered me, honestly, but I waited until today because it was only a month away. I just wanted to do it for him."

Cook has been in touch with just about every member of the Mountaineers staff recently, discussing what the future could hold if he jumped at the offer to join the men in Morgantown. His commitment is now the first for the coaches in the 2015 recruiting class.
As a freshman, Cook averaged 18.6 points, 15.4 rebounds and 4.6 blocks per game for the Raiders.At 6-foot-10 ("and a half," Cook adds) and 300 pounds, Cook is a large prospect, to say the least. At this point, he uses his size to bully other high school athletes in the post, but when he gets to the college level, his new coaches expect to see a slimmed down player.

In talks with Huggins and others on the staff, Cook says they would rather see him trim his frame to around 275 to 285 pounds, while developing more muscle.

"I'm sure when I get to West Virginia, Andy [Kettler], the strength coach, will have me ready to play," says Cook. "They want me to keep my weight down as much as I can right now, gain some lean muscle."

Not only was Cook's grandfather's dream that he will suit up for WVU, but it's been Cook's as well.

He can recall going to games at the Coliseum throughout his childhood and up to a recent trip in the 2009-10 season when he watched Da'Sean Butler hit a buzzer beater to take out Marquette on the home court.

Those experiences convinced Cook that he wanted to be a Mountaineer. The only question was which sport he would play.

"Ever since I was little, I wanted it," he says. "I knew I would play for West Virginia – football, basketball or whatever. It turned out to be basketball and that was always my dream, to play West Virginia University sports."

After all those years of dreaming, he knows what it means to be a Mountaineer.

"I know how West Virginia basketball is, I know how the fans are and I know the people in the state," says Cook. "If I go to West Virginia and we win them a championship, I mean, I'll be the king of the state."

As a fan, Cook can look back at his own memories of watching his future team fall short of its championship aspirations to know just what that accomplishment would bring to his neighbors around West Virginia.

"I remember how it felt when we lost in the Final Four and I just want to help win it for the state," he says. "Coach Huggins always says the people in this state are the greatest people in the world and I just want to help them win, I want to help Coach Huggins win and I just want to do well for the state of West Virginia."

Now all that's left for Cook is three years of high school ball before he can join the Mountaineers. Now, officially, he is committed. Though in reality, he has been for years.