Michael Cook was named Assistant Athletic Director for Community Partnerships and Fan Experience on July 1, 2022 in addition to his role as the Head Men's Basketball Coach.
In Coach Cook’s 15-year, tenure as head coach, at Fort Scott Community College, over 45 of his players have went on to play at four year schools, nineteen players are ranked on the all-time scoring list, nineteen on the all-time rebounding list and ten players on the all-time assist leaders, Former player Kevin House is the all-time assist leader. At last tally, six of his players were overseas and five was playing semi-professional basketball. Also, the program posted the most single-season wins in the 2017-2018 season, which is only the 5th time the program posted a 20-win season.
The 2020-21 season was a historical season for the Greyhounds as they were Conference Co-Champions, nationally ranked as high as number 11, finishing seventeenth, both being a first for the program. Also, Coach Cook was named Conference Coach of the Year for the third time, the most of any DII coach in the conference. Also, the Greyhounds had five members named All Conference and one member named All Region while the team led the nation in steals, and scored over 100 points in five games.
The 2019-20 season saw Coach Cook pick up his 142nd career win at the Greyhound helm; with that win Coach Cook passed Hall of Fame Coach Bob Eshelbrenner for all time wins. Academically, the program has been ranked in the top five in GPA in the conference all but three years under Coach Cook. The 2009-2010 team finished the year ranked first in conference in team GPA and ranked fifth in the nation. The program has also placed one or more players on the All-Conference Academic team each year under Coach Cook.
The 2017-2018 season was another historic season for the Greyhounds both on and off the court; in the classroom, the Greyhounds finished the first semester with a 3.55 Grade Point Average. That was the highest grade point average ever posted by the men’s basketball team and the team finished with the fourth highest grade point average in the conference. The Greyhounds also had four players earning Academic honors the first semester, while three players earned All-Conference All Academic and Lucas Kelley and Jon Barnes earning Exemplary Academic Achievement which is the equivalent of Academic All American. The Greyhounds finished with the best record in 28-years at 20-12, making that only the sixth time in the history of the program that a team has posted 20 wins in a season.
The Greyhounds also had their two sophomore captains, Tyler Zinn and John Montgomery, earn First Team All-Conference honors. Tyler also earned First Team All-Region, with John earning Second Team All-Region honors.
The 2016-2017 season saw the Greyhounds with several new faces on the team, some transfers and some freshman to build around returning starters Anthony Cerda and Demetrius Walker. The team finished third in the conference and fifth in the region. This special team won the first round of the regional playoffs on the road against Kansas City Kansas Community College on a last second shot. The team never found the groove that was envisioned and the season ended in the semi-finals against Johnson County. Demetrius Walker was named first team All-Conference and second team All-Region, while Anthony Cerda was named second team All-Conference and Honorable Mention All-Region.
The 2015-16 season saw the Greyhounds tie to win conference, this was the second time in three years the Greyhounds won conference. The team earned honors with Dametrius Walker being named Freshman of the Year, and First Team All-Conference along with Eddie Sims while Jeremiah Fleming was named Second Team All-Conference, with Coach Cook being named Coach of the Year. The Greyhound also finished first in the region, with Eddie Sims and Dametrius Walker being named to First Team All- Region, Dametrius Walker was also selected to play in Jerry Mullen’s Top 100 Junior College Players Showcase.
The 2014-2015 season saw the Greyhounds finished fifth in the conference and third in the region after switching back to Division One conference. The team lost in the first round of playoffs, however Will Harrington was placed on the Second Team All-Conference and All Region along with Dalton Rose being placed on the Honorable Mention All-Region team The team also had three players, Evan Brull, Lindsay Deline and Dalton Rose earn All Conference All-Academic Team.
The 2013-2014 season was a historic season for the Greyhounds. The team finished with a 15-18 record, in which the Greyhounds won conference for the first time since 1967 and winning the Region 6 title for the first time, also the Greyhounds advanced to the National Tournament for the first time since 1948. The Greyhounds garnered several awards for this historic season, Kevin House and Prince Samuels were name First Team All-Conference and Mabor Gabriel was named Honorable Mention All-Conference with Kevin House being name First Team All-Region and Prince Samuels being named Second Team All-Region, along with Coach Cook being named Conference Coach of the Year award. In addition, Jacob Stroman and Wes Brantley were named to the All-Academic Conference Team and Wes Brantley earned Superior Academic Achievement Award.
The 2012-2013 season, the Greyhounds started to turn the corner and the plan that Coach Cook envisioned was beginning to form, as the Greyhounds won their first playoff game in forty four years and advanced to the semi- finals of the Region tournament. James Fleming was named to the All-Conference Second team and Austin Danner and Ray Ray Chase was named Honorable Mention All-Conference, with all three being name to the Second Team All-Region team also, while Peirce Rienbolt and Wes Brantley were named to the All-Academic Conference team with Pierce Rienbolt earned Exemplary Academic Achievement, also Pierce Rienbolt was named Outstanding Sophomore for the 2012-2013 year.
In Coach Cook’s first season as Head Coach for the Hounds, Cook began the task of building the Hounds into a program that would be competitive on and off the court every year, in the first year his team beat Coffeyville Community College for the first time since 2000 and the second win against Coffeyville in the last twenty years, that team also upset teams outside the state of Kansas, such as Redlands, NEO A&M and State Fair. Darrell Blanton was named to the third team All-Conference team and Zach Wilson and Kyren Gantt were named to the All-Conference All-Academic team.
From 1998 to 2004, Coach Cook founded the Kansas Mustangs AAU program and in six years under Coach Cook, the Mustangs produced fourteen players who went on to compete at the collegiate level. From 2005-2007, Coach Cook co-founded the Midwest Mission AAU program, in two years the Mission produced twelve players that went on to play collegiate basketball.
Coach Cook was as an assistant coach at Jayhawk Linn High School in Mound City, Kansas in 2007. Coach Cook was also an Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Fort Scott from 1995 – 1996.
As a player, Coach Cook was a two year starter at Eastern Oklahoma State College from 1988-1990 and a two year starter at Pittsburg State University from 1990-1992. His senior year at Pittsburg State, the team was ranked fourth in the nation and finished with a record of 21- 8. Coach Cook is currently ranked in the top ten for assists and is tied for the single assist game record.
Coach Cook earned his bachelor’s degree from Pittsburg State University and his Master’s degree from Northcentral University and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa.
Coach Cook resides in St. Louis, Missouri, with his wife Latisha (formerly Kelley). They have four children, two daughters Rayven, Mataya, and two sons, Lakelon, and Andrew. The two also have and three grandsons, Avery, Adrian and Khylen and one granddaughter, Andi.
