NCAA Basketball: 10 best players from state of Wisconsin of last decade

5. Elgin Cook – Oregon

This 6’6 forward from Milwaukee became a pretty impactful college player on the west coast. It all started on the other coast, spending a year at Northwest Florida before transferring up. Cook made his way to Oregon, spending three seasons contributing to a pretty good Ducks squad, beginning back in 2013. He was not still with the program when they broke through to the Final Four in 2017, but helped lay successful groundwork in the seasons before.

Cook made decent contributions off the bench as a freshman, eventually scoring 23 points in a first-round Tournament win over BYU. He was a full-time starter and much more impactful contributor moving forward, averaging 13.0 points and 5.2 rebounds as a sophomore, including a career-high 26 points against Washington State. Junior year was more impressive, with slightly better stats plus his role in leading Oregon to the Elite Eight. Cook had 24 points in his final collegiate game, an Elite Eight loss to Oklahoma.

Growing into an important role at Oregon, Cook was twice named All-Pac-12, including First Team honors as a junior. He was named Pac-12 Tournament MVP and keyed an impressive season for the Ducks. Cook finished among the conference’s leaders in points, steals, and key other offensive metrics. While undrafted, Cook spent a year in the G-League and has now spent half a decade playing professionally overseas, most recently in Spain.