Oregon Basketball: Supreme Cook fills needed frontcourt void for 2024-25 season

Last week, Oregon Basketball got closure regarding the N’Faly Dante situation, with his appeal to the NCAA regarding another year of eligibility being denied. That ends his college career and leaves a glaring hole in the frontcourt. And with few options left, the team needed to add someone to feel good about next season.

The good news for the Ducks is that they were able to land one of them. Supreme Cook is a 6’8 forward from Georgetown, After three years at Fairfield, the veteran forward started all 32 games with the Hoyas last season, averaging 10.5 ppg and 8.0 rpg on 58% shooting from the field.

Some of Cook’s best individual games included 15 points and 14 rebounds against Xavier, 18 points and 13 rebounds versus UConn, as well as a season-high 20 points and 11 rebounds on the road at Seton Hall. Although the team itself didn’t have a great season, Cook proved that he can play at the power conference level.

At Oregon, look for Cook to play at both the four and five-spots. He’ll be paired with Stanford transfer portal Brandon Angel, who averaged 13.0 ppg as a starter, including 45% shooting from deep on 2.5 attempts per game. Those two, along with returning center Nate Bittle and starting combo forward Jadrian Tracey will make up the frontcourt depth next season.

Cook is a traditional post player who doesn’t spread the floor and since rebounding is one of his strengths, it makes sense to play him mostly at the five-spot. But he might be a bit undersized compared to future opposing Big Ten centers such as Oumar Ballo (Indiana) and Vlad Goldin (Michigan) so that could be an issue for Oregon.

While Cook isn’t as big or imposing as Dante, he’s a perfectly fine pickup for the program in the middle of June. There aren’t many prospects available for teams still lacking depth so for Oregon, this should be viewed as a successful move.