Sports Women's Basketball

The Cooke is back on the court: Gigi Cooke’s returns to action

Houston guard Gigi Cooke (3) dribbles the ball while being flanked by Mississippi Valley State guards Jaylia Reed (2) and Serenity Echols (25) during the second half of an NCAA college Women’s Basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Houston, Texas. | Raphael Fernandez/The Cougar

As the anticipation of the upcoming 2023-24 season ramped up, so did the intensity of the offseason workouts and routines for Houston women’s basketball.

After conditioning drills and on-court workouts, sophomore guard Gigi Cooke and her teammates played an intrasquad pickup game, suddenly disrupted when Cooke suffered a non-contact leg injury.

“I’m doing some natural movement, things that I usually do, and I just heard it pop,” Cooke said. “I just knew something was wrong because I heard something.” 

Roughly 48 hours after the injury occurred, it was revealed that Cooke had torn her ACL, and meniscus and had sprained her MCL. 

The doctors showed her the MRI, and she soon realized the severity of the injuries that ultimately sidelined her for the entire 2023-24 season. 

She was in a situation she had never been in before, on a new team over 1,400 miles away from her home in Upper Marlboro, Md.

Star from the start

Cooke attended Bishop Mcnamara High School in nearby Forestville, where she helped her team reach three consecutive WCAC title games. Her 15 points per game as team captain during her senior year earned her a unique opportunity to play collegiate basketball with the University of Maryland Terrapins.

Though the Terrapins’ 1-2 punch of soon-to-be WNBA lottery picks Diamond Miller and Abby Meyers stole the headlines, Cooke still played a hand in their run to the Elite Eight, with her 25 appearances off the bench plethora of experience in pressure-packed games and high leverage situations.

Cooke carried that experience with her to Houston, which was entering its first year of Big 12 competition upon her arrival. 

She was one of a handful of new additions to Houston’s 2023-24 roster, another being junior forward Maliyah Johnson, a transfer from the University of Pittsburgh. Although they didn’t share the court their first year, Johnson stepped up in a big way for Cooke and helped her with her physical and mental well-being.

“I don’t even call her my friend now, she’s like my sister,” Johnson said. “We just became close in a year. Her family is my family, and my family is hers.” “I can say just from the outside looking in, she did have a hard time trying to process that whole recovery. I don’t think she had enough support as she should have when it first happened.”

Now, Cooke gets to step up for Johnson, who suffered a knee injury of her own ahead of this season. Drawing from her struggles, Cooke has provided valuable guidance and insight, helping Johnson navigate the challenges associated with recovery. Her experience gave her a unique perspective on what Johnson would face, allowing her to offer the same support she once received.

While the two will not be able to share the court this season, Cooke got her long-awaited breakthrough moment, when she finally got to lace up her shoes as a Cougar for the first time during the 2024-25 season opener. 

On the court

In just the first half alone, Cooke displayed what the Cougars frequently missed last season: perimeter shooting, pace and an ability to get to the rim and collapse defenses with her aggression as a scorer.

“Most of the time, these games that you win, it’s going to come down to the toughest team, and most aggressive team. And when you’re doing that all the time, you give yourself a chance to win, and I think that’s what she brings to the table,” coach Ronald Hughey said. “If we would have had that last year, I think we could’ve gone further, just because that team wanted to shoot a lot, and didn’t want to get to the basket. She would’ve been one of those that can get to the rim and create for others, as well as create for herself.”

Though the Cougars fell just short of securing a victory in the season-opener, Cooke’s 18 points gave a glimpse into how Hughey envisions her complementing the team. For Cooke, the performance also served as a moment of reflection on how far she has come.

“It was just an exciting moment for me. Just sitting out so long, it does play with your mind,” she said. “It definitely felt good, the reflection of it all. You could see it in my face when I got back home. I was just happy to be back.”

She continued becoming more consistent and comfortable in her role as the 2024-25 campaign has progressed. She’s scored in double figures in six of her last eight games. She averaged 12.7 points per game while shooting 33.3% from the three-point line and racking up 1.3 steals a contest in the seven between Nov. 30 and Jan.11. Her season-high in points came against Rice on Nov. 14, when she scored 21 on 7-of-14 shooting. 

Keeping a strong mindset

Cooke has been able to adjust in part thanks to the incredible adaptation and emotional flexibility the recovery process required of her.

“It was hard to stay positive because it felt lonely at times, it was really hard. I was just ready to go home and see my family. I felt like that’s all I needed at that point,” Cooke said.

Text messages and phone calls could never compare to the feeling of being in the presence of family and loved ones. For Cooke, family was her greatest source of strength throughout her recovery.

“They’re like my why to things. After my mental got better, I was just like ‘I’ve got to get back’. My people sacrificed a lot. I lean on them a lot because I feel like they molded me a lot into who I am,” Cooke said.

Beyond the invaluable moments Cooke got to spend with those closest to her, the time away from playing also gave her a new perspective on her situation.

“I had to think about God, everybody’s timing is different, so I started to think about that. Trying to be a good teammate, stay positive throughout it all because it does get hard, annoying,” Cooke said.

Coaches are among those who can attest to the trials and tribulations of injuries. They’ve sometimes spent decades coaching hundreds of players, and know how arduous the process is by witnessing it firsthand. 

It’s no different for coach Hughey, who has been at the helm in Houston since 2014. 

“You have to give them that window of working themselves back, mentally first before they can do anything physically,” Hughey said. “Mentally getting my mind right and understanding that injuries are a part of the game. That it was just my turn, but God has bigger plans for me, and give me a chance to see that in the next three-to-six months.” 

Hughey also cited the importance of showing compassion and being there for her with everything that she needed, understanding how much of a strain a major ligament injury can be. 

“Just be there when she needs somebody to talk to. It’s really, really hard for them to understand why this happened to them, so you’re basically a listening ear,” Hughey said. 

Although Cooke needed to wait to showcase her skills on the court, she made sure to connect with her teammates, taking time on the sidelines to socialize with them throughout last season. 

“I’m a very outgoing person, so I talk to everybody,” Cooke said. “I just always try to bring a positive light into things, regardless if I’m hurt, sitting out – or anything.”

As the months following her surgery went on and boxes were being checked off, Cooke knew the most important one was drawing closer: being medically cleared. But it wasn’t all-systems-go quite yet. 

When Cooke first went to get cleared, there was still pain in her knee, and despite everything looking good during tests, the pain was still bothersome enough to delay the two thumbs up from the medical staff.

“Off rip, I was kind of like ‘dang,’ it’s another setback. But I know that it’s God’s timing, and I just kept working at it, trying to get stronger,’’ Cooke said. “Once I felt more comfortable in it, just felt confident in my leg again, I played how I usually played, I felt back.”

With Cooke back and the season in full swing, her ability to provide a spark and scoring punch for the Cougars has only been heightened by injuries that have ravaged the team throughout the course of the year. Houston has been forced into an eight, sometimes seven-player rotation. After five missed opportunities the team got their first conference win against Oklahoma State on Jan. 14. Cooke put up 16 points and five rebounds and went 10-for-11 from the free-throw line, while playing 38 of 40 minutes.

Still, she believes that the team has the potential to compete in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament during her time here. In addition to her desire to be a leader and earn conference accolades, Cooke hopes to help build this Houston team that is continuing to put pieces together. 

“Once we find that identity, that one ego, one heart type of movement, then we can be something really good. I just want my team to have the accolades, myself as well… And imma just cook some, you know?”

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