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Gulf High star takes her dream to Tampa

By FRANK PASTOR
Published November 10, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - A former Clearwater High star, Monique Ellis remembers thinking during one of her pregnancies, "I hope one of my daughters plays basketball."

Ellis might have thought otherwise after she saw her daughter, Tiara Cook, dribble a ball for the first time.

"The poor thing, she didn't know what to do with it," Ellis said, laughing. "She was traveling, she couldn't dribble, she couldn't do anything. I was like, "Oh, my gosh, she has no skills."'

She does now.

Cook, a Gulf High star, rejected advances from Division I schools to sign with Division II University of Tampa on Wednesday. She received a full athletic scholarship that includes room and board.

"Tampa knew what I could do, everybody else knew what I could do," Cook said. "They were the first ones there, on the table, they were straight up with me, and I was like, "All right, I'm taking it."'

Sitting next to her daughter and in front of a basketball-themed cake topped with icing in UT's scarlet red, yellow and black, Ellis watched proudly as Cook signed a national letter of intent in front of 25 family members, friends and teammates in a conference room at Gulf.

"I'm so glad that she was able to fulfill her dream," said Ellis, who signed with Brevard Community College out of high school but was unable to enroll because of academic deficiencies. "She wants to do this. I didn't have to push her that hard. She wants to go to college. She wants to pursue this."

Cook, Gulf's career scoring and rebounding leader, chose Tampa over Eckerd, North Florida and Jacksonville, among others, because the university had been following her since her sophomore season and is a 45-minute drive from her family's Holiday home.

By committing early, Cook can enjoy her senior season without having to worry about impressing college coaches.

"I've been waiting for this day," said Cook, who plans to study computer information systems or business administration. "I was like, "Come on, Tiara, we sign it, it's done with, now I've got to worry about winning the state championship this year,' which is going to be a task, but we're ready for it."

Gulf came close last season, winning its first conference and district titles and advancing to the region semifinals three seasons after going 0-25. Cook was the catalyst, averaging a team-high 19.1 points, county-best 10.7 rebounds and three blocks in only her fifth season of organized ball.

A 6-foot center who can knock down the 15- to 18-foot jump shot, run the court and play defense, Cook has only started to realize her potential, Gulf coach Mike Quarto said.

"One of the people you could always recognize in the last four years of Gulf High is Tiara Cook in the middle," Quarto said. "She's still very raw with her potential, and I think she'll develop real nicely at Tampa."

Pasco volleyball player Ashley Naughton signed with Webber International.

Former Mitchell baseball player Marcus Taylor, currently at Blake, signed with Grambling State.

Land O'Lakes softball player Jessica Tejas will sign with Tampa on Monday.

[Last modified November 10, 2005, 10:59:02]