Vic is on the move
Schaefer Adds Transfer Sidney Cooks
May 15, 2019by Brian Ogden, Assistant Coordinator/Communications
STARKVILLE Mississippi State head women's basketball coach
Vic Schaefer announced the signing of Sidney Cooks on Tuesday.
Cooks will transfer from Michigan State where she averaged 9.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in two seasons. The forward from Kenosha, Wisconsin, will have two years of eligibility remaining after sitting out the coming season.
Cooks closed her Spartan career with a double-double against national runners-up Notre Dame in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, collecting 17 points and 12 rebounds. That performance followed a career-high 21-point night in the first round against Central Michigan.
She scored in double figures in 15 of her 30 games last year with three 20-point nights. Cooks also had 15 double-figure scoring games as a freshman with her first career double-double coming at Minnesota (Jan. 7, 2018).
For her career, she is a 47.3 percent (231-of-488) shooter from the field and hits 37.5 percent (51-of-136) of her shots from behind the arc. She has 59 career blocks.
Cooks was the Associated Press girls' basketball player of the year in Wisconsin as a senior for St. Joseph Catholic High School. She was the No. 5 prospect and No. 2 at her position by ESPN HoopGurlz coming out of high school. Cooks was a McDonald's All-American and Naismith Trophy High School Third-Team All-American.
She also has extensive international experience, playing with the USA U18 National Team that won gold at the 2016 FIBA Americas Championship in Chile.
Schaefer has had success adding transfer players before.
Anriel Howard was a key member of State's Elite Eight run this past year and was a second-round draft pick of the Seattle Storm in April after joining the Bulldogs from Texas A&M.
Jordan Danberry came to Starkville from Arkansas and boasted the second-highest scoring increase in the SEC this year.
Other notable Bulldog transfers returning next year include
Andra Espinoza-Hunter (UConn) and
Promise Taylor (Ole Miss). Espinona-Hunter became a major three-point threat for MSU and set the SEC Tournament record with eight three-pointers in the championship game this season while posting the No. 7 single-season three-point percentage in school history. Taylor will return to competition after sitting out the 2018-19 season due to transfer rules.