Jefferson Hagen
MacEwan Athletics

EDMONTON – There are flashy throwdown dunks and clutch three-pointers that pull you out of your seats in the game of basketball.

Then there are the minutiae – the finer details of positioning, boxing out and where to put your hands in lanes, among other things – that set the table for success on the court.

This is where Taylor Cook makes his living, slogging it out in the Canada West trenches as a power forward for the MacEwan Griffins men's basketball team.

"I'm kind of unconventional," admitted the Magrath, Alta. product. "I play the power forward, but I'm only 6-3. I grew up playing centre on my teams and guarding the biggest guys. I enjoy rebounding. 

"I know I'm not going to be the guy that goes out and scores 30 points, but I can help my team in other ways – defence and rebounding, being physical that way."

That doesn't mean he can't produce; Cook is averaging 8.3 points per game (fourth on the Griffins) and 4.5 rebounds per game (tied for third) ahead of a weekend home series vs. Winnipeg on Friday (8 p.m.) and Saturday (4 p.m., David Atkinson Gym, Canada West TV).

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Voted as one of three co-captains on the Griffins, alongside Matthew Osunde and Job Janda, Cook is the one who sets the gritty example for everyone to follow.

"He's a guy that when we need rotations, he steps in and takes charges," said Griffins head coach Mike Connolly. "So, he sacrifices his body. He does little things like he makes contact on boxing out, he doesn't just go get the rebound. Defensively, he's trying to make it really hard and not just staying behind a man. 

"It's those details you (rely on) when things get stressful or it's a close game. We're trying to focus on those details, so when we play in highly competitive games, guys will rely on their training and it will be the details that win, not necessarily the X's and O's and the strategies."

Cook is one of the elder statesmen on a young Griffins team featuring only players in their first and second years of eligibility after he entered university at age 20 following a two-year post-high school mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

"I left two weeks after I graduated and moved to the Virginia side of D.C. and lived there for two years doing service and teaching people," he explained. "It was really a great experience for me to grow. It really helped me mature and become more developed as a man in general."

Taylor Cook grew up in a small town in southeastern Alberta - Magrath - that lives and breathes basketball (Robert Antoniuk photo).

Being married, rare for a university student-athlete, has also given him extra life experience that helps him in a leadership role on the team. 

"I think it means there's a lot of trust that my teammates have in me to produce every night and help keep everyone accountable," he said of being voted as a captain. "We're all a young team. It's really an honour to be seen as one of their leaders that they picked."

Two of Cook's brother in laws were U SPORTS athletes – Alberta Golden Bears quarterback Brad Baker and University of Lethbridge basketball player Jared Baker – and he had an uncle (Greg Roberts) who also played basketball for the Pronghorns.

"It makes for a pretty competitive family dynamic," he said. "Any sort of competition gets pretty fun that way."

His upbringing was full of competition that the entire town embraced, actually. Few have experienced the atmosphere present in small town southeastern Alberta that more rivals U.S. high school sports. When Cook helped the Magrath Zeniths win two zone high school basketball championships, it was in front of a bigger crowd than he'll likely ever experience at the university level.

"I grew up in a small town where basketball is everything there," he said of Magrath, pop. 2,596. "The whole town comes out to support the high school team. We won a zone championship in front of 4,500 people. It's crazy, growing up that way. Basketball's been my whole life since I was little. To be able to play in university is a dream come true."

And the Griffins are happy to have the unique game that he brings.

"He's bringing maturity and he's doing all the little things that are necessary to be successful, so he's really helping the young guys learn and keep them accountable to all those little things," said Connolly. "At the same time, he's mature enough to understand his limits. He's playing a forward position at 6-3. He hustles and he's a little bit tougher, so he can handle those bigger matchups. But he's learning to play within himself and play within his abilities, which is even making him better."

That's precisely what the Griffins will need against a Winnipeg team known for strong defence.

"I really respect their defence and how they work," said Connolly. "I think that's what we're going to need to do is match their defensive intensity with ours. We're going to have to be able to push the ball to see if we can get some easy looks."