Notre Dame senior forward Jack Cooley is one of 30 candidates named to the Naismith award list. That will surely help increase the price of Jack Cooley draft stock. Cooley is one of five Big East players named to the list. Cooley has come along away from being “the guy who looks exactly like Luke Harangody and plays the exact same position as him at the exact same school.”
He’s no longer Baby Harangody; today he’s a double-doubles machine and that’s why Jack Cooley draft stock is on the rise.
Cooley, who leads the Irish in scoring (14.4) and rebounding (11.0), also is on the John R. Wooden Midseason Top 25 Watch List. The 6-9, 246-pound forward is tied for second nationally with 18 double-doubles this season, ranks fifth in rebounding and ninth in field goal percentage (.589). A preseason first team all-BIG EAST candidate and Irish tri-captain, Cooley is just 38 points from becoming the 53rd player in Notre Dame history to reach the 1,000-point plateau. He has played in 116 career outings for the Irish and has made 59 starts throughout his career. Cooley owns career averages of 8.3 points and 6.4 rebounds.
Are we buying Jack Cooley draft stock? We have him going 55th overall in our latest NBA Mock Draft. He’s an energy player who knows how to carve out space inside and crash the boards.
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, a Google News site generating millions of visitors. He also contributes regularly to MSN, Fox Sports , Chicago Now, Walter Football.com and Yardbarker
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