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EACH WEEK, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK BACK AT A MEMORABLE MOMENT IN ILLINI HISTORY, THANKS TO THE WORDS OF THE NEWS-GAZETTE

This week: It wasn't that long ago that  Clippers free-agent signee Brian Cook played for Los Angeles' other NBA team, the Lakers. Sports editor JIm Rossow visited Cook's hometown of LIncoln on the eve of Cook's first and only NBA Finals.

Headline: Back in his hometown, Cook's a celebrity for all the right reasons

Date: June 6, 2004 

Like a lot of folks in this cozy town of 16,000, Marilyn Wheat will plop down in front of her TV tonight as the Lakers open the NBA Finals.

Not to watch Kobe, Shaq or the Mailman. But to catch a glimpse of the skinny rookie perched at the end of the bench. The one who has his hometown as excited about the Lakers as Jack Nicholson.

"When I watch the Lakers, I find myself not even watching the basketball go in the basket," said Wheat, a lifelong resident of Lincoln who works at City Hall. "I'm looking for Brian when the ball's in the air. If you look really hard, you can find him."

Brian Cook doesn't play much for the Western Conference champs. But that hasn't stopped Lincoln from going gaga as one of its all-time favorites inches toward an NBA title.

At Advanced Eye Care, the staff knows as much about Phil Jackson's triangle offense as it does contact lenses.

"Gary Payton's pretty old, but he's still got it," Shelli Skelton said.

Skelton is an optician who has had an eye on the NBA since Cook got drafted last June.

"That you know somebody that actually has made it that far is very neat in a town like this," she said. "And everyone in this town knows Brian Cook. Or at least they'll tell you they know Brian Cook."

At Mel-O-Cream Donuts, you can get a honey bun for 59 cents and a scouting report on the Lakers for free.

"They're going to win it," customer Sherry Elsberry said. "I want something super to happen to Brian. A championship would do that for him."

At the Oasis Senior Center on the town square, don't try to find a seat on the couch near the TV. A majority of the Sunday night regulars, who range in age from 50 to 95, will be glued to ABC, hollering like teen-agers at a Railsplitters game. All because of No. 7.

'He's just a fine young man,' said LaVeta Zurkammer, an 87-year-old basketball junkie and a big Cook fan. 'When he came to our potluck, I couldn't believe how tall he was.'

Ending a drought

Lincoln has every right to blow its lid with Cook so close to a title. The town, a one-hour drive from Champaign-Urbana, has produced its share of pros: Kevin Seitzer was a solid major leaguer, Tony Semple and Andy King made it to the NFL, and Norm Cook, Brian's father, played two seasons in the NBA.
But Brian Cook has a chance to be the first to bring back a ring.

'The night he was drafted, I told him he'd have a pretty good chance to win a ring right away,' said Neil Alexander, Cook's high school coach and father figure. 'For a lot of players, that chance doesn't come along very often.'

No one from our area has done it in any of the big four (NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL). And only three former Illini have delivered NBA championships, the last time in 1976 when Steve Kuberski played for the Celtics.

'I'm the last one? You've got to be kidding,' said Kuberski, who had Norm Cook as a teammate in 1977.

Now 56 and working in Boston, Kuberski keeps his two NBA title rings on a dresser at home. They are among his most prized possessions.

"To be part of a championship team is something I'll never forget," he said. "I'm sure (Cook) would feel the same way if it happens to him."

Good guys can finish first

One reason Lincoln cheers so hard for Cook is because he's a really good basketball player. But the bigger reason is because he's a really good guy. You'd have to scour Logan County to find a bad word about him.

"Everybody roots for him because he's a special kid," Alexander said. "And he won't change no matter what happens."

He returned to Lincoln High in February when the school retired his jersey. And he'll return this summer to complete his degree at Illinois.

Mayor Beth Davis, who presented Cook a key to the city last summer, has a spot reserved for him at Lincoln's Fourth of July celebration. She's hoping he has the time to ride a convertible through what most surely would be a downtown traffic jam. Even if the Lakers finish second.

"He's an inspiration to a lot of kids,'" she said. "A lot of adults, too."

Tom Piefer runs Sports Plus, the only sporting goods store in town. When he's not screaming 'Go Cookie, Go Cookie' at the TV, he's trying to meet demands of customers seeking all things No. 7 in purple and gold.

Good luck.

At Christmas, he had 150 glossy 8x10 photos of Cook shooting a jumper as a Laker, for $12 each. By New Year's Day, he had none.

"They were hotter than a firecracker," he said.

Sports Plus isn't a licensed NBA store, so Piefer said he isn't allowed to stock replica Cook jerseys. He will be able to sell Lakers championship T-shirts when and if the time comes. He's hoping it's about a week. For business and for Cook.

"Why wouldn't we be excited?" Wheat said back at City Hall. "He's one of our own."

And four wins away from being one of a kind.