His dad, Charles Cooke II, is now a contractor, but was a professional boxer after he got out of the U.S. Army.
If you’ve got prayer and a punch in your genes, how could you not – as University of Dayton coach Archie Miller says he has done – “make a big impact” on your new team?
Charles Cooke III – called Tre, as in trey, back home – has become the sharp-shooting star on the No. 24 Dayton Flyers this season.
After transferring from James Madison University in the spring of 2014 and sitting out last season per NCAA relocation rules, the 6-foot-5 junior guard leads UD in scoring (15.7 points per game) and three-point field goal accuracy ( 44.7 percent, second in the Atlantic 10 Conference) is second in blocked shots and third in steals, assists and rebounds (6.3 per game).
He’s also got to be among the top three when it comes to family tree.
Sitting down to talk Friday before the Flyers left for today’s game at George Mason, Cooke said when it comes to sports, “it just runs through my family.
“My mom was a track athlete and my sister was, too. My brother, Keith, was a phenomenal track athlete, football and basketball player. My cousin (rookie receiver) DeVantae Parker plays for the Miami Dolphins.
“And my dad, he played sports in high school and then became a pro boxer. I’ve seen pictures of him. I think he was a welterweight and I know he was pretty good until he broke his hand when he dropped a manhole cover on it while working. “
Cooke said he showed promise as a basketball player from the time he was about four.
“I remember my brother – he’s seven years older – taking me to Franklin Park (in Trenton) when I was real little.
“After a few months I was able to get the ball up to the rim and I’ve been playing ever since. Anywhere I used to go with my brother, I made sure I had a basketball and I’d dribble it all around.”
By the time he was in second grade, he was added to his school’s fourth-grade basketball team. In middle school, his coach was former NBA player Greg Grant and that tutelage set a tone with him.
“He had me going to study halls and doing everything you do in college,” Cooke said. “He really laid down the law about the game and how hard you had to work. From that point on I took to basketball and stayed in the gym all the time.”
He said his parents built the real foundation for his life:
“My mom is all about working your behind off to get things done and she really has no tolerance for ‘what if’ or ‘could of.’”
He said it was at his mother’s prompting that he entered Trenton Catholic Academy rather than the public high school to which he would have gone.
Besides its academics, Trenton Catholic is known for its basketball. Cooke won a state title there as a sophomore and, as a senior, he was part of a talent-laden team that sent at least eight other players on to college basketball, including Malachi Richardson to Syracuse, Khalid Lewis to LaSalle and then Illinois and Brandon Taylor to Penn State.
From James Madison to UD
Although he drew considerable college interest, Cooke said, “I wasn’t highly recruited. I was more of one of those guys who was always under the radar.”
He said he was by passed over by two schools with whom he had considered signing:
“I was supposed to commit to St. Joe, but then (coach) Phil Martelli called me late at night and told me somebody they had been recruiting had just committed and it was his last scholarship.
“And by the time I got back around to VCU after I had gotten qualified (academically) VCU had someone else, too. They had been my first offer and I really wanted to go there, so that hurt too.”
He finally committed to James Madison University and played in 30 games – starting 11 – as a freshman. After averaging 5.8 points his first season with the Dukes, he started 29 of 30 games as a sophomore and averaged 14.3.
He scored 15 points in JMU’s victory over Long Island University in an NCAA Tournament First Four game at UD Arena and then had 18 in the Dukes second-round loss to Indiana.
Although he was a third team All Colonial Athletic Association pick at season’s end, he said he didn’t feel comfortable at JMU and decided to transfer:
“I just didn’t have that feeling you do when you know something is right. I knew I had more in me than I was showing and I needed something bigger to get it out of me.”
He visited Rutgers and then chose Dayton after being contacted by Flyers coaches and developing a relationship with them.
Although he had to sit out last season, he saw lots of action in practice because of the Flyers’ depleted roster numbers and he said he developed, especially by being around Archie Miller, who, as an under-sized college point guard at NC State, played with a chip on his shoulder aggressiveness and passion that he has carried over to his coaching days.
“Meeting Archie was one of the best things for me,” Cooke said. “I’m not a naturally aggressive person. I’ve always been passive aggressive, more of a finesse type not just as a player, but as a person too.
“But he’s got that nature of his every single day, even on days when you come in the gym and don’t want it, and it just rubs off on you.
“I needed that and even though I have more of it now, it’s something I have to intentionally remind myself to be. … And Archie will remind you, too.”
Finding his spot
Miller said Cooke has “followed the blueprint” that Jordan Sibert used when he transferred from Ohio State and then blossomed at UD.
“When I came here, I knew UD wasn’t the biggest school to go to, but it’s all about where you will fit and where you can make the transition to the next place,” Cooke said.
“I know you can’t deny talent, you can’t deny hard work and I have both. So I just came in and tried to do what I do as a player.”
Miller watched the emergence: “He worked every single day in the gym and he improved and he jumped into things aggressively.”
In the process, Cooke found his spot among a core group of returning players. And as Miller put it, “He has apologized to no one for being a good player. And that’s something this team really needed, especially with Dyshawn out the early part of the season.”
With Dyshawn Pierre suspended the first 10 games and Jordan Sibert graduated and playing professionally, the Flyers were without their two top scorers from last year’s NCAA team.
With Pierre sidelined, Cooke scored 21 against Alabama and Miami, 22 against Iowa and 24 against North Florida. Since Pierre’s return, he’s topped the 20 point more four more times.
“He’s just what we needed,” Miller said. “Right from the start this year, Charles’ impact on this team has been immense.”
That he gave the Flyers a prayer and some punch from the outset should have been expected.
He is the son of a preacher and a prizefighter.
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