ASUN Basketball: Ranking of 25 best players from last decade (2013-23)
By Joey Loose
18. Zach Cooks
Cooks is a 5’10 guard from Lawrenceville, Georgia who began his college career back in 2017. He’d begin things off in the ASUN at NJIT and was still part of the program when it departed for the America East three years later. Additionally, Cooks transferred to Hofstra for his bonus season and would become a pretty solid sixth man for the Pride, though our focus today is on those first few years in the ASUN.
He came off the bench with decent contributions as a freshman but became a major part of NJIT’s game plan as a sophomore. In a season where the Highlanders won 22 games (their most at the D1 level), Cooks was the leading scorer, averaging 17.6 points and 4.8 rebounds. His numbers were even more impressive during his junior campaign, NJIT’s final year in the ASUN, putting up 19.7 points per game.
Cooks was honored by the conference in each of his three seasons in the ASUN, including Second Team honors as both a sophomore and junior. He led the conference in points and steals during that great junior season, which was actually his second straight year as the ASUN’s steals king. He played a ton of minutes for the Highlanders and was extremely important in that breakthrough success in what remains their best season since joining D1 not too long ago.