Omar Cook Added To Summer League Roster

Cook signed a 10-day contract with Portland on February 3, 2004 and gained a second 10-day contract with the Blazers before he signed a multi-year contract on February 27, 2004. In 17 appearances with Portland this past season, he averaged 0.8 points, 1.4 assists and 0.6 steals in 8.2 minutes.

“Omar has the innate qualities of a point guard," said Bobcats General Manager & Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff. "He has good ball-handling skills and a good body, plus a good understanding of the game. You need your point guard to understand plays and when they are developing and the options. The reads have to be instinctive and he has those instincts.”

Cook was called up to the Blazers from the Fayetteville Patriots of the National Basketball Development League, where he played for current Bobcats assistant coach Jeff Capel. He appeared in 24 games and paced the NBDL with 9.0 assists and 2.6 steals, along with 10.2 points.

On January 31, Cook dished out a league season-high 14 assists against Roanoke and recorded 10 or more assists in a game 12 times last season. His 215 assists through 24 games put him on pace to shatter the NBDL single-season record for assists, 306.

After a stellar prep career at Christ The King High School in Queens, NY, Cook attended St. John’s University. He averaged 15.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 8.7 assists and was named Third Team All-Big East Conference as a freshman. Cook’s 252 assists set a St. John’s freshman record and ranked second on the school’s all-time single-season assist chart.

Cook left college after one season and was selected by the Orlando Magic in the second round (32nd pick overall) of the 2001 NBA Draft. Cook's rights were then traded by Orlando to the Denver Nuggets to fulfill a previous trade obligation. He was waived by Denver prior to the start of the 2001-02 season and was signed by the Dallas Mavericks.

Cook spent a month with Dallas, but did not see any game action. He has participated in summer mini-camp or training camp with the Boston Celtics (2002), Orlando Magic (2002) and Indiana Pacers (2003).

The 22-year-old has spent the past three seasons with Fayetteville. Cook was named to the All-NBDL Second Team in both 2002 and 2004 and was selected All-NBDL Honorable Mention in 2003.