Quinn Cook has been on the road seemingly all summer.
Already he has traveled to Minnesota, California, North Carolina, Texas, Germany, Las Vegas and now Arizona.
“I’m exhausted, but I got a couple games left,” Cook, the No. 5 point guard in the Class of 2011, said Tuesday from the Desert Duel in Gilbert, Az.
Cook and his DC Assault AAU program will finish up in Arizona before playing one more local event in Virginia at the end of the month.
After that he plans to head home to Prince George’s County, Maryland and cut his college list.
That list now includes Arizona, UCLA, Villanova, Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina State, West Virginia, Rutgers, St. John’s and Georgetown. (Rutgers was left off a list published by an Arizona newspaper.)
“I’ve been traveling so much, I want to get home and rest and work out,” he said. “I haven’t had any real time at home yet because I’ve been traveling so much.”
Cook talked specifically about a couple of schools on his list, pointing out that Duke had attended every game yet.
“They’ve been at every game this summer,” Cook said. “They’re recruiting me heavily. I’m just in the process of forming a relationship with Coach K and go from there.”
Because incoming freshman point guard Kyrie Irving could be one-and-done, Duke may need a point guard to take over in 2011 and has apparently targeting Cook as one option to potentially join Austin Rivers in the backcourt.
“Man, it’s a great honor,” Cook said. “When you think of college basketball you think of Duke. I grew up watching Coach K and Jason Williams and Chris Duhon. To think that I could be that caliber of player as them and to have Coach K, arguably the greatest college coach of all time, recruit you is just an honor.”
Cook said he was also considering Big East locals St. John’s and Rutgers.
“I had a chance to form a relationship with Coach [Steve] Lavin,” he said of St. John’s. “He’s a real cool guy. Hopefully during the season I could watch them and see how he runs the team. I’m definitely interested in them.”
As for Rutgers, Cook has a relationship with associate head coach David Cox.
“Yeah, Coach Cox definitely,” he said. “Coach [Mike] Rice, we’ve talked a couple times. I’m forming a relationship with him, too.”
Cook averaged 20 points, 5.9 assists and 3.3 rebounds as a junior and led DeMatha (32-4) to the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship and City title.
Yet he opted to transfer to Oak Hill (Va.) Academy, following in the footsteps of several other Washington-area stars, including Nolan Smith, Kevin Durant, Julian Vaughn, Michael Beasley and Ty Lawson, and former DeMatha players Jeff Allen and Byron Allen.
On the AAU circuit, Cook asked New York native Sidiki Johnson to join the DC Assault in Las Vegas. Johnson, who has committed to Arizona, will also play at Oak Hill next season after spending last year at St. Benedict’s Prep under Dan Hurley.
“He said he wasn’t playing with the MetroHawks and I asked him to come to Vegas and help us win,” Cook said. “Being that we’re going to the same school we’re trying to form a relationship and chemistry together.”
He added: “That’s like my brother. We’re definitely feeling each others’ games now, each others’ tendencies and how I can get him in position to score.”
Even though DC Assault lost in the Elite Eight in Vegas, Cook has already enjoyed a successful summer.
He helped the USA U17 national team win a gold medal in Hamburg, Germany, averaging 7.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 7.4 assists.
“It was the greatest experience ever,” he said. “We went into the camp the first day and we understood we had a goal in our mind. To be over there representing your country was the greatest. To win it is a blessing.
“I was real happy to be granted the opportunity.”
HOFSTRA’S LESTER SUFFERS INJURY
Hofstra senior guard Nathaniel Lester of Brooklyn tore a “muscle in his quad” and “does not need season-ending surgery,” Hofstra coach Mo Cassara said by phone.
“The status is he tore a muscle in his quad and we’re monitoring it,” the coach said. “He does not need any season-ending surgery. He will reevaluate it in a month and at that time we’ll have an idea how long he’ll be out.”
Cassara said the 6-5 Lester tore the muscle while working out on his own.
“He was doing some running on his own, doing some sprints,” Cassara said. “He didn’t think it was anything at first. He’s doing therapy. He will go back in for an MRI. There’s no need for any surgery. He will reevaluate it in a month.”
Lester averaged 8 points and 4.8 rebounds last season.
ANDERSON SHUTTING IT DOWNSt. Anthony guard Kyle Anderson will shut it down for the remainder of the month with tendonitis. Kyle Anderson Sr. said his son was told by a trainer in Las Vegas to rest and Anderson will not play in the Desert Duel event in Arizona. His father said he hoped to return for the adidas nations event in Chicago in August. Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter
