South Carolina women's basketball: Senior Profile - Zia Cooke
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In November 2018, South Carolina signed the top-ranked recruiting class in the country. It was a group of five players (four scholarship and one walk-on) hailed as potentially the best signing class ever.
Four years later, Laeticia Amihere, Brea Beal, Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, and Olivia Thompson have led South Carolina to the most successful period in program history and are on the verge of completing one of the most successful four-year runs in the history of the sport.
Part of what makes the 2019 class so special is that each member stayed all four years. They turned down the potential for greater individual accomplishments elsewhere to stay and win. On Sunday they will play their final home game.
This week GamecockCentral will recognize each member of that class. We’ve profiled Olivia Thompson, Laeticia Amihere, and Brea Beal. Today we look at Max Klinger’s favorite basketball player, Zia Cooke.
Zia Cooke, #1, 5-9, Guard, Toledo, Ohio
Bio:
Cooke was already a viral sensation when she committed to South Carolina. A hype video of her high school exploits racked up millions of views on social media.
Cooke has been an explosive scorer capable of breathtaking plays since she stepped on campus. When she gets hot, you give her the ball and get out of the way. One of the Gamecocks’ hardest-working and most driven players, Cooke has added strong defense and solid point guard skills to her scoring ability.
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Then:
Cooke scored 13 points in her first game against Alabama State. After, she stopped Dawn Staley in the hall and asked when they could start preparing for the next game, a top-ten matchup at Maryland.
Harnessing Cooke has always been a challenge. She went 6-6 from the foul line and scored ten points as South Carolina upset Maryland. Then with half of Toledo in the stands, scored 27 points at Dayton, a career-best that stood until her senior season.
Cooke also made one of the single biggest plays of that season. Up 81-79 in the final seconds against Mississippi State, she intercepted an inbounds pass and dribbled out the clock to keep the Bulldogs from getting a chance to tie or win the game.
Now:
Cooke emerged as the go-to scorer as a sophomore, but then found herself mired in a season-long shooting slump and often miserable junior season. She is back to her old self, and better than ever.
Cooke is more efficient as a shooter, and after three years of paying lip service to the other parts of the game, Cooke has embraced playing defense and setting up teammates.
You could see the lightbulb start to flicker on during South Carolina’s 2022 tournament run. Cooke understood that her shot attempts would be limited so she started to put more effort into her defense.
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The Sacrifice:
Cooke could have been a Rhyne Howard or Caitlin Clark. If given that kind of freedom, she could average 25 points a game and set scoring records, disregarding how many turnovers or misses came in the process.
But Cooke traded huge numbers and limited wins for limited numbers and huge wins. She was South Carolina’s top scorer as a sophomore but was replaced in that role by Aliyah Boston. Cooke could have transferred, but instead, she worked on her defense and point guard skills to be a better fit on a Boston-centric team.
FAM Favorite moment:
In the 2021 Final Four against Stanford Cooke led all scorers with 25 points and went 5-8 from three. While her teammates struggled to get going, Cooke was nearly unstoppable, single-handedly keeping South Carolina in the game.
My favorite moment:
Tough call. I love the flex. It is so subtle that at first I wasn’t even sure I was seeing it. Eventually, Ty Harris confirmed that after big plays she’d see Cooke flex. That was her sign to start feeding Cooke because she was heating up.
But my favorite moment is the steal against Mississippi State. To me, it is the quintessential Zia Cooke play. She doesn’t get enough credit for her work ethic, determination, and desire to win.
All of that was on display when she read the situation, diagnosed the play, made the leaping grab, and then had the awareness to avoid fouls and dribble out the clock. That win also proved the Gamecocks could gut out a win in even the direst circumstances. I went home that night and booked a hotel for the Final Four (we all know what happened later).
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Legacy:
Cooke is unusual in that there have been many periods when she has been more appreciated by opponents than by Gamecock fans. They often criticized her for shooting too much for a point guard, even though she wasn’t a point guard.
Time will be kind to Cooke. Those complaints will be forgotten, and the highlights will be brought to the forefront. And there are so many highlights.
Cooke will go down as one of the most explosive scorers South Carolina has ever had, someone who was always a couple of made baskets and a flex away from catching fire. She’s also one of the most exciting, capable of making plays few others can make.
She’s already a hero in Toldeo, where the street in front of her high school is now called Zia Cooke Avenue.
Career stats:
127 games (127 starts), 13.3 ppg, 38% FG, 35% 3PT, 2.4 rpg, 1.9 apg, 0.9 spg, 20 games with 20+ points
Records:
- Most three-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game (5, Stanford 2021)
- Third – Consecutive games started (82)
Awards:
- Honorable Mention All-American (2021, 2022)
- All-SEC (2021, 2022)
- SEC All-Freshman (2020)
- NCAA Hemisfair Region MOP, All-Region team (2021)
- NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team (2021, 2022)
- SEC All-tournament team (2021)
- SEC Academic Honor Roll (2020, 2021, 2022)
Team accomplishments:
120-8 overall record, 55-1 home record, two SEC regular season championships, two SEC tournament championships, two Final Fours, 2020 consensus #1, 2022 national champions.
