Jack Cook (1994) - Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame

Jack Cook

Induction:
1994

When Jack Cook received All-Ohio Valley Conference honors as a Thundering Herd captain in 1949, little did anyone know that the hard hitting outfielder’s contributions to Marshall weren’t winding down, they had just begun. The Huntington native, whose father began taking him as a 1930’s child to watch guys like Baseball Hall of Famer Walter Alston play for the minor league Huntington Red Birds at League Park in the west end, moved quickly from Marshall to playing and coaching in the Huntington industrial leagues. He later spent nine years as the coach at Huntington High School, where he led the Pony Express to state championships in 1961, '64 and '66.

Cook, who had served as Marshall’s interim head coach for the 1955 season, returned to coach the Thundering Herd in 1967 and held the post – along with a job as an assistant professor in the school’s HPER program – for the next 23 years, leading the team to an overall record of 422-344-3. Cook guided the 1973 Marshall team to the school’s first NCAA Tournament and in 1978 won the Southern Conference championship and not only returned to an NCAA Regional, but once there beat Florida State 4-0 and Clemson 9-3, putting Marshall within one win of a trip to Omaha, Neb., and the College World Series, before the host Miami Hurricanes beat Marshall twice to end the Herd’s season. That season, Marshall achieved a school-best national ranking of No. 14 during the season and No. 17 in the final poll. Cook was named the Southern Conference and Atlantic Region Coach of the Year and was a finalist for National Coach of the Year honors.

Cook later led Marshall to the 1981 Southern Conference title and was the SoCon Coach of the Year again in 1989. By the time he was finished coaching, Cook had helped 24 players receive all-conference honors, while pitcher Mark Doboney won first team All-American honors when he led the nation with a 0.55 ERA in 1973. Fourteen of Cook’s players went on to play professional baseball, and 11 of his players, including son Chip, are in the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame. Cook is enshrined in the West Virginia Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. His number 1 is the only retired Marshall baseball jersey. Cook was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1994.