By Shaun Savarese

Sun Sports Writer

ssavarese@evesun.com

There were games last year where you barely noticed Storm Cook on the basketball floor. This season, the Norwich senior center is hard to miss as the dominant purple presence in the paint.

In 20 games, Cook has shown boundless basketball ability. He can rebound, score, and change the game defensively. In a January game against Seton Catholic Central, he had 25 points and 13 rebounds.

This season, he averages over 10 points a game, and is one of the main reasons why the Purple Tornado are playing basketball in March.

But he's not just a good athlete, he's a good person.

"If you wanted to raise a son, you would want to raise him like Storm Cook," said Norwich Purple Tornado head coach Tom Collier. "He's the most polite, caring kid you'll ever meet...everybody on our

team loves Storm."

When discussing Cook as a person, Collier gushes. Calling him "soft spoken," and "a great teammate." It is clear that the coach cares about his senior center. When discussing Cook as a player, Collier is effusive. "Storm's the best rebounder in our league. there's no question about that," Collier said.

In last Saturday's Section IV championship win over the Oneonta Yellowjackets, Cook had eight offensive rebounds and 14 total rebounds.

"We knew they were going to play a three-two type (zone) deal,” Cook said after the game. “We knew one guy was going to stay on one side of the paint. There was an opening on the other side, so I went to that side to get all my rebounds and stuff.”

Cook is humble and polite off the court, and tenacious and physical on it. But that wasn't always the case his first two years on the varsity. Just a season ago, Cook had nine scoreless games and averaged under

two points per game.

"The difference between last year and this year for Storm is the development through the use of weights," Collier said.