Makira Cook

She is the daughter of Glynett Cunningham and William Cook. As a young child, Cook's first organized sport was cheerleading, which she hated because she wanted to play basketball with the boys. She also participated in soccer, volleyball and softball. Having to choose between softball and basketball, she chose the latter.

Cook played high school basketball for Mount Notre Dame High School in Cincinnati, Ohio where she was named First Team twice and Second Team twice.{{cite web|url=https://daytonflyers.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/makira-cook/12028|title=Makira Cook|publisher=Dayton Flyers|access-date=2024-10-18}} Cook led the team to two state championships and three conference championships. At the end of her high school career, Cook was considered a four-star recruit, ranked 95th in her class by ESPN.{{cite web|url = https://www.espn.com/high-school/girls-basketball/recruiting/player/conversations/_/id/242238/makira-cook| title= Makira Cook|publisher=ESPN|access-date=2024-10-18}} She was also a four-year varsity letter winner. Cook committed to play college basketball for Dayton in 2019.{{cite news|url=https://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/2020-point-guard-commits-dayton-women-basketball-program/uPBTJ8H3aUjEoDhQhg2vwK/|title=2020 point guard commits to Dayton women's basketball program|newspaper=Dayton Daily News|access-date=2024-10-18}}

In her sophomore season, Cook was named the A-10 Most Improved Player. She was also named in the Second Team All-Conference. Cook also earned All-Tournament team honors at A-10 Championships and named to 2021-22 A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll.

Before the start of her junior season, Cook transferred to the Illinois Fighting Illini.{{cite web|url= https://writingillini.com/2022/04/04/illinois-basketball-report-illini-landing-former-4-star-guard-makira-cook/|title=Illinois Basketball: Report has Illini landing former 4-star guard Makira Cook |last=Woodcock |first=Rees |date=April 4, 2022 |website=Writing Illini|access-date=2024-12-01}} In her junior season, Cook was named unanimous first team All-Big Ten by coaches and first team All-Big Ten by media.{{cite web|url=https://fightingillini.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/makira-cook/14485|title= Makira Cook| publisher=Illinois Fighting Illini| access-date=2024-10-18}} She was the first Illini to earn first team honors by both the Big Ten coaches and media since Jenna Smith did so in 2010. She was also an honorable mention All-American honoree by both the WBCA and the Associated Press. Cook was second team All-Big Ten (coaches and media) in her senior season.

In March 2024, it was announced that Cook would return for her fifth season in college basketball.{{cite web|url=https://yahoo.com/news/makira-cook-return-illinois-women-031922691.html|title=Makira Cook to return to Illinois women's basketball|date=21 March 2024 |publisher=Yahoo News|access-date=2024-10-18}}

In April 2024, Cook was named as the inaugural WBIT tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Cook's honor made her the first Illinois women's basketball player in program history to be named MVP in a postseason competition.{{cite web |url=https://fightingillini.com/news/2024/4/3/womens-basketball-illini-trio-named-to-wbit-all-tournament-team-cook-earns-most-outstanding-player-honors.aspx |title=Illini Trio Named to WBIT All-Tournament Team, Cook Earns Most Outstanding Player Honors |author= |date=April 3, 2024 |website=fightingillini.com |publisher=University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics |access-date=September 18, 2024}}

As of November 2024, Cook had completed her bachelor's degree in community health and was working on a master's degree in business administration, with a goal of eventually owning a business that specializes in mentorship programs for youth.

On January 8, 2025, the university announced that Cook, a fifth-year senior, would miss the remainder of the 2024–25 season due to an undisclosed "ongoing medical condition", effectively ending her collegiate basketball career. She finished with 1,723 points overall, scoring 1,152 with the Illini. Her final game was December 8, 2024 at Ohio State University.{{cite news |last=Daniels |first=Matt |date=January 8, 2025 |title=Cook, Dolan to miss rest of the season for Illini |url=https://www.news-gazette.com/sports/cook-dolan-to-miss-rest-of-the-season-for-illini/article_b725e336-cdea-11ef-bc38-37f9007384a7.html |newspaper=The News-Gazette |location=Champaign, Illinois |access-date=January 10, 2025}}

{{WNBA player statistics legend}}

{{WNBA player statistics start}}

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| 2020–21

| style="text-align:left;"| Dayton

| 18 || 1 || 17.5 || 38.1 || 26.5 || 59.1|| 2.4 || 1.6 || 0.4 || 0.1 || 0.9 || 6.2

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| 2021–22

| style="text-align:left;"| Dayton

| 31 || 25 || 31.2 || 40.4 || 38.0 || 76.1 || 3.8 || 2.9 || 1.2 || 0.1 || 1.8 || 14.8

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| 2022–23

| style="text-align:left;"| Illinois

| 30 || 30 || 33.9 || 41.4 || 34.2 || 86.6 || 3.4 || 4.2 || 1.2 || 0.1 || 2.4 || 18.3

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| 2023–24

| style="text-align:left;"| Illinois

| 31 || 31 || 34.7 || 40.5 || 34.9 || 81.5 || 3.1 || 4.4 || 1.0 || 0.2 || 2.8 || 16.4

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| 2024–25

| style="text-align:left;"| Illinois

| 8 || 8 || 28.6 || 34.8|| 27.6 || 80.6 || 1.9 || 3.6 || 1.0 || 0.1 || 2.1 || 14.6

|- class="sortbottom"

|style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career

|118||95||30.5||40.1||34.4||81.4||3.2||3.5||1.0||0.1||2.1||14.6

|- class="sortbottom"

|style="text-align:center;" colspan="14"|Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/makira-cook-1.html|title=Makira Cook|publisher=Sports-Reference|access-date=January 10, 2025}}

{{S-end}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• [https://fightingillini.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/makira-cook/14485 Illinois Fighting Illini bio]
• [https://daytonflyers.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/makira-cook/12028 Dayton Flyers bio]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Makira}}

Category:2001 births

Category:Living people

Category:Basketball players from Cincinnati

Category:Dayton Flyers women's basketball players

Category:Guards (basketball)

Category:Illinois Fighting Illini women's basketball players

Category:21st-century American sportswomen