Eye on the Ball

Carol Cook was a basketball player and track athlete growing up. Her love of basketball at a young age evolved into a lifelong passion and family tradition. She has made many gifts over the years to different university programs, but primarily to USF basketball.

To Cook — and the many fans and USF community members around the country and the world — basketball is a common language. It’s something that brings supporters together and increases USF’s presence in the national media. That is especially true this year, with the men’s team achieving a convincing winning record while remaining undefeated at home, and the women’s team one game above .500 in conference play (at the time of writing.)

“I was born and raised in Hong Kong,” said Cook. “I was very thankful that USF took me in. I earned my undergraduate degree in a sports-related field and fortunately was able to secure a job at USF.”

Later in her career, she was inspired to earn her MBA. She said, “It’s thanks to USF that I had the opportunity to earn another degree. So, with whatever I can give, I think that giving back is important. Without USF, I wouldn’t be who I am today.”

Cook believes that the pull of the basketball programs brings people to USF and closer together. “People refer to USF as a mid-major, but actually, in my heart, USF is big. And the basketball program had a hand in bringing me here in the first place.”

Image

Cook passed her interests down to her son, Daryl Cook ’12, MBA ’18. He played basketball at Lowell High School in San Francisco where he won a state championship, before following in her footsteps and becoming a Double Don and USF staff member himself. He worked for USF Athletics during his student tenure, and for the School of Management upon graduation.

Cook’s favorite USF basketball memory was on February 18, 2012, when the men’s team beat Gonzaga on the Hilltop by a score of 66-65. She says that the energy — fans storming the court, folks in tears — was unmatched. But she is just as quick to point out the progress both USF programs have made, including the women’s team, in the past decade. She thanks philanthropic contributions for the improvements, especially the new Malloy Pavillion and updates to the Sobrato Center.

Cook says that she attends pregame receptions with the coaches and that she is one of the more outspoken attendees. She always comes prepared with questions for the coaches and she likes it when the Dons are aggressive in the first half of contests. Her court knowledge goes beyond that of a casual fan, and moments like these help her stay connected.

Cook says that she keeps a keen eye on ESPN’s rankings for the men’s and women’s teams, and that seeing consistent progress is inspiring and evidence of the ethos of the USF community.

On her ultimate motivation for giving, Cook concluded, “All of us work very hard, and USF is about the people. Whether it’s staff or faculty, we all put together our effort to make it better for the students. So my small contribution, I think, is important.”

Learn more about how you can give back to University of San Francisco Athletics and support student-athletes here.