As a youth growing up in Manchester, England, with Manchester United as his home team, it is no wonder that football – or soccer – was the first game for Redhawk Center Jack Crook. In fact, he didn’t even pick up a basketball until he was 15 years old. “I got so tall that people started telling me I should give basketball a try,” says Jack. “So I gave it a go, and I just loved it. It’s fast-paced and fun, and I felt I could get quite good at it quickly. I always need to continuously improve.”
Jack began his basketball career by joining the English Basketball League’s Manchester Magic and, after leading the team to the tournament title in 2012, he was named MVP of the Under-18 National Cup in England. But Jack soon realized that to achieve his goals with basketball he would have to leave his home in England for the U.S. “I enjoyed playing with the Manchester Magic, and it’s a great team, but in England basketball is taken more casually. It is for fun, something you do on the side. U.S. teams are a lot more athletic and a lot more serious. Here, there are so many high goals that you can push yourself to achieve: to win the WAC (Western Athletic Conference), to go on to win the NCAA (National College Athletic Association), to play professionally. This is the great thing I like about America.”
Once Jack decided to travel to the U.S., he looked at a number of colleges with strong basketball programs. When asked why he chose to attend Seattle University and become a Redhawk, Jack describes the personal attention he received from Coach Darren Talley. “Coach Talley didn’t just watch me play a couple of games, he traveled to my home in Manchester and met with me and my family. He took a lot of time to discuss with us my goals and how I could achieve them at Seattle U. So, I knew I could really trust Coach Talley, and that is the most important thing when you are traveling so far from home. Also, I saw that Coach Dollar really pushes the team to get better every year, and I wanted to be a part of that.”
Jack was also attracted to the personal attention Seattle University offers its students. “I knew Seattle U is a good school academically, which is very important to me and my family. But the class size made all the difference. I like the opportunities to work in small groups, where you can get to know your fellow classmates in every single class. You are actively participating in class and learning rather than just sitting in a large lecture hall and listening.”
Just one month after arriving at Seattle U as a freshman, Jack was treated to a trip of a lifetime. He and his teammates set off for two weeks to play international exhibition basketball games in The People’s Republic of China. “It was an amazing experience to go and see such great places that you only hear about, like the Great Wall,” says Jack. It also proved to be an opportunity for Jack and the team to practice against tough competition. “The Chinese team was definitely a challenge. They were a team that wanted to fight for everything. It was a great test for what we wanted to do during the season.”
When asked to compare his time playing with the Manchester Magic and the Redhawks, Jack will tell you, “The Manchester Magic team was good, but the Redhawks are the best team I have ever played with.” He attributes this to the incredibly close bond among all the players. “Being with my teammates is like being with family. We are together all the time, even on weekends. My favorite time by far is just hanging out in the locker room with my mates, dead tired after three hours of hard practice, joking and making wise cracks. It’s like being with your eleven best friends, and it has made my time here so enjoyable.”
Jack cites this closeness as key to last year’s highly successful season, and it was never more apparent than during the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) game against Colorado. “We have always played well as a team, making the extra effort”, says Jack. “But when we played Colorado, everyone did what they were supposed to do, from start to finish. It was a really great win. You feel good about every win, but I prefer to win when we win as a team. Everyone is involved and, after the game, everyone can say: I played my part.”
Looking at this year’s season, Jack sees opportunity to exceed even lasts year’s accomplishments, despite the loss of the team’s two highest scorers, Jarell Flora and Isiah Umipig. “Jarell and Isiah are great players, but we relied on these scorers a lot. This year, the team should be more balanced. The freshmen coming in all know what we have to do. Jadon Cohee did a great job last year, and he has continued to improve all summer. We’ve got William Powell, who also improved a lot over the summer and is very good.
...We’ve got Jack Shaughnessy, who can shoot from anywhere on the court. So, we now have six or seven players who can really score, which makes us a lot more potent offensively. And we will carry on our strong emphasis on defense. We are focused on what we need to accomplish for this year, and we all personally want to do better. I think that is important.”
Jack and his teammates have the passion, drive and focus to go all the way this year. But they can’t do it without the support of Redhawk fans. “The fans are a big part of what we need to win,” says Jack. “The screaming and cheering really pushes us to perform at our best. Last year, we won 11 out of 12 home games, and so the fans already know how hard we work. We have worked even harder this summer to be even better this year and to win it. We would love to have our fans come out and support us again this year. We love everything they do for us.”