Cook wants to make most of opportunity

One thing that Garden City WR Kenny Cook (6-4, 205) has come to understand is that the ability to play football is a gift and he's not going to waste it. As a cancer-survivor, the talented wideout has vowed to make the most of his second-chance to play the game he loves and he spoke with JCFootball.com recently about what he's been up to this offseason...

"I was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease (Lymphoma) as a 10th grader and I had to sit out that year," Cook told JCFootball.com recently. "The Lymph Nodes in my neck swelled up and I had to go through radiation and chemotherapy and sit out a season so when I got to come back as a junior, I made the most of my opportunity and I'm still doing that.

"I don't take things for granted."

As a prep at Clinton (South Carolina) High School, Cook missed qualifying for a scholarship because of his SAT scores. So he decided to head west a ways and get his academics in order.

"My grades are straight now," Cook said. "I have a 3.6 and I'm doing really well in all of the stuff I've been focusing on.

"As far as football is concerned, I'm working a lot on my routes and just being smoother in and out of my cuts."

Cook redshirted in 2010, so this spring schools wanted to get a look at the big-bodied wideout to see what he brought to the table.

What they saw was a physical specimen who possesses 4.55 speed at 6'4" and weighing in at 205 pounds and he said that his performance this spring has had four-year schools contacting him ever since.

"Arkansas, Ole Miss, Indiana, Minnesota, Louisiana Tech, Utah and Kansas State are the schools who I spoke with," Cook said. "I know I have a lot to show them this fall and I really feel like if I get off to a fast start, I could see some offers.

"I'm open to anyone that wants to recruit me. Sure, I'd love to be back near my family, but like I said, I'm not going to waste an opportunity and if the best opportunity is somewhere else, then that's what I'm going to focus on."

Cook is on pace to graduate this December and he will have three years to play two wherever he ends up.

Kenny Cook Scout Profile