Today kicks off the countdown for JJHuddle’s “Top 50 Ohio High School Athletes of the Decade” for 1999-2009. Every Monday through Friday from now until March 26, a new athlete will be released. The countdown will end a day before the boys basketball state finals.
Today’s entry just happens to be a hoop star…
50.Daequan Cook, Dayton Dunbar, Basketball, 2002-2006: The current NBAer (Miami Heat) and former Ohio State stud put together arguably the best prep career of anyone ever to come out of famed Dayton Dunbar High, which earns him a spot on this list. Cook never won Ohio’s Mr. Basketball award but he was one of the best players in the state throughout his career. Cook led Dunbar to the D-II Final Four as a junior and then led the Wolverines to the state title as a senior. In his three state games, Cook scored 75 points. He also barely missed out on a triple-double (26 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists) in 2006’s state semifinal win over Akron SVSM. Cook was part of the famed “Thad Five” recruiting class at Ohio State with Greg Oden and Mike Conley that made the NCAA title game as freshmen. He’s also won the NBA 3-point contest last year.
