Gonzaga Lands Grad Transfer Aaron Cook

Gonzaga secured the commitment of graduate transfer Aaron Cook on Tuesday night. The Southern Illinois guard will be immediately eligible this coming Fall.

Cook only played in six games his senior season this year before breaking his hand. Granted another year of eligibility and being a holdover from a previous coaching regime, he decided to transfer, and chose Spokane as his destination.

In those six games, Cook averaged 15 points, but his value comes on the defensive end, where has averaged over three steals a game, including a seven steal performance. In his junior season, the 6’2 guard started all 32 games for SIU and averaged 10.5 points, 3.7 assists and 1.3 steals.

Cook should slide into the role Gonzaga was searching to fill. They needed an experienced lead guard off the bench to spell Jalen Suggs and preferably keep Joel Ayayi and Dominick Harris off the ball. It also doesn’t force Harris into an enormous role right away. As we saw this season, having only one true point guard can certainly be problematic. Ryan Woolridge was playing upwards of 38 minutes a game at times, and that’s not a fair burden to put on Suggs, no matter how good he is.

With Cook’s commitment, we now wait on Gonzaga’s draft decisions from Filip Petrsuev, Corey Kispert, and Ayayi. There’s also a chance they grab a traditional sit-out transfer by the end Summer as well.