Connor Cook admits that this season was the most challenging of his high school career as Belleville struggled to replace the loss of several key veterans.
And while Cook’s tenure didn’t end in the state tournament as he had hoped, the Bucs’ star guard finished his time at Belleville in incredible fashion.
On Feb. 20, Belleville’s next to last game of the season, Cook scored his 1,000th career point in a win over Passaic Tech.
Five days later, after being honored for the milestone in a pregame ceremony, Cook erupted for a career-high 46 points in Belleville’s season finale against Roselle Park.
Cook’s final performances makes him The Observer Athlete of the Week.
The 6-foot-1 guard concludes his career with 1,053 points.
“(When I scored my 1,000th point) there was a little bit of a weight off my shoulder, but at the end of the day, I didn’t want to put my mind on it too much,” Cook said. “I just really wanted to just win some games, finish the season out strong, and have a decent record. But unfortunately, 7-19 isn’t the best. But I mean, it’s what it is.”
“I felt for him all year,” Belleville head coach Jim Catalano said. “I wish I could have done more, but when you have people that just have no experience at the high school level at all, there was only so much we could do.
“There wasn’t much positivity. So for him to at least get some individual awards, I couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Belleville was initially expecting to return four of its top five scorers from a season ago, but due to injuries, players focusing on other sports or jobs, Cook was the only one from that group to suit up for the Bucs this winter.
When it became clear how young an inexperienced Belleville was going to be, Catalano met with Cook and explained how his role was going to have to change significantly.
“He was going to have to take on such a load offensively where he needed to switch his game from being almost exclusively a 3-point shooter into a more all around offensive player,” said Catalano. “He did that throughout the year. Little by little he became more adept at getting to the basket and the short-range jump shot became more of a threat for him.”
Cook, who averaged 13.8 points per game as a junior, eclipsed that total in 22 of 25 games this season as he went on to average 21.5 points his senior year.
In the month of February, his offensive game continued to improve as he averaged 26.8 points per game in nine contests. In six of those games, he eclipsed his previous career-high of 25 points.
Needing 17 points to reach 1,000 before the Passaic Tech game, Cook went off for 16 in the first half, then hit the milestone with a 3-pointer in the early moments of the third quarter.
Cook had 15 relatives in the stands on Tuesday against Roselle Park for his final game and the pregame ceremony for scoring his 1,000th point. He said it was the most family he’s ever had come see him play, which served as an added motivation to end his career with a statement.
“My mindset was that I got to put on a show,” Cook said. “It’s my last game. I got to showcase what I got to the best of my abilities.
“A lot of my (family members) live pretty far away, so if they’re driving 30, 40 minutes to come see me, I have to put on a show.”
Cook was in a groove right from the start. In the first half alone, he had 28 points, just one shy of his previous career high of 29, which was set earlier in the month.
“It was just one of those nights where almost everything was falling and you just hope that it continues until the game is over.”
Cook hopes to continue his playing career in college, but despite being one of the state’s top scorers has received minimal interest so far. The 6-foot-1, 155-pound guard is trying to set up plans for playing in the spring in hopes of getting more attention.
Said Cook, “I’m just hoping that a college coach is willing to take a chance on me and see what I can really do.”
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Jason Bernstein | Observer Sports Writer
Jason Bernstein joined The Observer as its sports writer in March 2022, following the retirement of Jim Hague. He has a wealth of sports-writing experience, including for NJ Advance Media (nj.com, The Jersey Journal, The Star-Ledger.)