Nevada Basketball: Hallice Cooke cleared to return to basketball

Nevada basketball recently gained a huge boost for next season as former Cyclone Hallice Cooke is medically cleared to resume basketball activities.

We last saw Hallice Cooke in Iowa State’s Sweet 16 loss to Virginia. Since then, he opted to transfer to Nevada to sit for a season before one last shot at college stardom. He was then crushed when he was told to hang up the sneakers due to a heart ailment.

However, it appears that he is good to resume basketball activities as a player. This is a terrific news for a young man that just wants to play.

Cooke’s career has been tumultuous. He started at Oregon State where he averaged 8.2 points on 46 percent shooting from the field. He had enough talent and production to get on the Pac-12 All-Rookie team in 2013-2014.

At Iowa State, he was initially projected as the point guard of the future before a lack of consistency caused him to slip in the rotation. He put up just 2.6 points in 10.9 minutes and never really found a rhythm in Steve Prohm’s system; Cooke scored 10 or more points just four times in Ames.

Now, he has one final shot in Eric Musselman’s Wolf Pack program.

Cooke will still have to sit out the rest of this season, per NCAA transfer rules, but he has a great shot to contribute next year for UN. Right now, Nevada will graduate their top guard in Marcus Marshall. Cooke would have to battle for playing time against Purdue transfer Kendall Stephens and blossoming sophomore Lindsey Drew, but at least he’ll have another chance to contribute on the hardwood.

Cooke might never hit the highs he did as an Oregon State Beaver, but everyone should root for this young man. Being able to return to his first passion is a blessing, and the fact that his playing time will be for an NCAA Tournament contender, makes things even more special.