It’s been assumed since Mike Cook blew out his knee against Duke that he would eventually apply for a 6th year of eligibility. He has officially requested the extra year, but as of now, the chances are stacked against him. He played for two seasons at East Carolina, then used his original redshirt (per NCAA rules) because of his transfer to Pitt. Therefore this season he was a 5th year senior, and the committee rarely grants the extra year in situations like this.
“It’s really out of my hands,” he said Friday afternoon. “All I can do right now is pray. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, I’ll just have to go to Plan B.”
It’s likely that he won’t find out until after the NCAA Tournament and not any sooner, but either way he will be honored with his parents at tomorrow’s senior day festivities. Should he get the extra year, it would be interesting to see a player be honored on senior night for two years in a row.
Before he went down, he was averaging 10.4 points and 3.5 boards in about 25 minutes per game.
His rehab is expected to last anywhere from 9-12 months.
“Right now I’m just focusing on getting my knee better and getting back to 100 percent,” Cook said. “My rehab is going real well. I’m just taking it slow and taking it day by day.”
It’s been just over two months so far. Best of luck to him, and here’s to hoping he gets healthy soon whether we see him again in a Pitt jersey or not.
Bilas sitting on sportscenter with a HUGE UCLA DICK in his mouth, no mention of the OBVIOUS foul not called – but Pitt is a bunch of losers, and UCLA is a bunch of winners that have the “intangibles to win” and are a “big time program.” I can’t stand that ass bag. I used to think he was a decent analyst. What a worthless piece of shit.
What’s with this decision? There should be a set system in place to decide this for cook. Who are they to just get to decide if he plays or not?
Both the UCLA (non)call, the oblivion by the commentators, AND the likelihood of Cook getting turned down are all related. Top programs get preference. If Cook played for Duke or UCLA or UConn and went down with an excruciating injury like he did on national TV and had Krus…whatever or Howland or Calhoun rushing out to comfort him … well, he wouldn’t even have to petition for the extra year. The NCAA would have already granted it, and would have run full-page ads in major newspapers trumpting the fact. In our case, we’re a red-headed stepchild. The NCAA has no love for us and no interest to do us any favors. I don’t think it’s likely and frankly within the scope of the rules I’m not sure it should be … but my point is, there wouldn’t be any doubt about the other programs getting the dispensation.
