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The 2008-09 season will mark the first season in which Jim Cook will just be the head women's basketball coach. After three seasons of coaching both the men's and women's programs at Judson University, Cook will now only coach the women's team. He became the eighth head coach for the women's program in 2005 when he replaced long-time head coach Tory Gum who stepped down after 15 seasons and five NAIA National Tournament appearances.
After only winning 12 games in the 2007-08 season, Cook will look to put Judson back atop the CCAC and into the NAIA National Tournament in 2009. Cook has been a part of several NAIA National Touranment teams at Judson and took the team in his first season as head coach to the NAIA National Tournament in 2006.
In that 2005-06 season, he led the team to a 21-11 overall record and a 5-3 conference record. But more importantly the team made another appearance at the NAIA National Tournament after winning the CCAC Championship at Cardinal Stritch, 68-50. That appearance was the 6th in 11 seasons for Judson at the NAIA National Tournament. In 2006-07, Cook coached four seniors who left their mark on the Judson women's baskteball program. They finished 11-18 on the year but in their four years they went to two NAIA National Tournaments, the Sweet 16 in 2004-05, and finished with a 77-49 record and three 20-win seasons.
Cook is no stranger to the Judson women's basketball program as he was an assistant for three seasons under Gum before becoming the head coach. He was a part of the staff when the team finished in the Sweet 16 at the NAIA National Tournament in 2002.
The past three seasons, Cook coached both the men and the women's programs at Judson and took both teams to the NAIA National Tournament and won a CCAC Championship. In 2005-06, his women's basketball team won the CCAC Tournament Championship and went to the NAIA National Tournament. Then, last year, his men's basketball team won the first, ever, CCAC regular season and tournament championship for Judson. That same team then qualified for the NAIA Division II National Tournament for the first-time, ever. In 2005-06, he coached both the men's and women's teams to 20-win seasons and both played for the CCAC Tournament Championship. It was the first-time, ever, that both programs won 20 games and played for the CCAC Tournament Championship in the same year.
Cook is the founder, director and coach of Team USA, an AAU organization. He has coached athletes as they compete in the highest level of competition during the summer months and then assists them in earning college scholarships. Along with coaching his AAU teams, Cook was a Dean's Assistant in School District U46 for 12 years. Most recently he worked at Bartlett High School. During his tenure in U46, he had various coaching experiences including Head Boy's Basketball Coach at Canton Middle School and Assistant Varsity Girl's Basketball Coach at Larkin High School.
Cook graduated from Eisenhower High School in Decatur, Ill. He completed his collegiate athletic eligibility with an outstanding basketball career at both Shasta Community College in California and Carroll College in Montana. He eventually received his bachelor's degree in Applied Behavioral Sciences at National Louis University in 2002 and finished up his Masters of Sports Management from Nova Southeastern University. Cook is also the Judson Dean of Men. He resides in Huntley with his wife Vicki.
