2020-21 D3hoops.com All-Central Region Team

La Crosse, Wis. - University of Wisconsin-La Crosse senior forward Wyatt Cook of Pewaukee (H.S.) has been named to the 2020-21 D3hoops.com All-Central Region First Team, the organization announced Wednesday.  He is one of five players selected to the All-Region First Team.

Players were nominated for these awards by the Sports Information Directors at the various schools.  Because of the pandemic, some regions had limited numbers of teams which played and were combined for awards purposes. Teams had to play a minimum of five games to make their players eligible. It's the 20th season D3hoops.com has named All-Region teams.

Selected the 2020-21 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Player of the Year by the league coaches, Cook earns his first all-region honor.  He was one of 10 players named to the 2020-21 All-WIAC First Team, joining teammate junior guard Ethan Anderson of Black River Falls (H.S.). 

Cook became the sixth player in school history to earn the WIAC Player of the Year Award, joining Eric Haug (1974-75), John Mielke (1980-81), Joe Werner (2006-07), Tony Mane (2010-11) and Jared Staege (2015-16). 

He is the fourth player in UWL history to be named to the D3hoops.com All-Region First Team. Werner (2007), Mane (2011) and Staege (2016) also earned accolades.

Starting 10 games in 2020-21, Cook led UWL in rebounding (5.9) while finishing second in scoring (16.3).  He also led the Eagles in field goal shooting (54.4%, 56-of-103), three-point shooting (52.2%, 24-of-46) and total blocks (7). He finished in the top-15 in nine different categories in the WIAC in 2020-21, including third in three-point field goals made per game (2.4), fourth in three-point percentage (.522) and tied for fourth in blocks (0.7 per game).  Cook was also fifth in the league in field goal percentage (.544), sixth in scoring (16.3), rebounding (5.9) and steals (1.4), 14th in free throw percentage (.675) and 15th in assists (1.7). 

It is Cook's second all-conference honor after being named to the 2019-20 All-WIAC Honorable Mention Team.  He scored in double figures in all 10 games he played in this season with a season-high 26 points at UW-Stout February 17.  The 26 points tied a career-high.  Cook scored 22 points with eight rebounds at UW-River Falls February 12 and recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and career-high 12 rebounds against UW-Stevens Point March 1 in the first round of the WIAC Championship.  He finished with 14 points, five rebounds and a season-high four assists and four steals versus UW-Oshkosh March 3 in the conference tournament semifinals.   

UWL finished 8-3 overall and 5-1 in the WIAC West Division under head coach Kent Dernbach.  The Eagles earned the number one seed in the West Division for the WIAC Championship while advancing to the tournament title game for the second time in school history.  UWL picked up a pair of home wins in the conference championship.  Dernbach was voted the 2020-21 WIAC Coach of the Year, the fourth coach in UWL history to earn the award.  He joins Burt McDonald (1982-83), Stu Engen (2001-02) and Ken Koelbl (2015-16) in earning the award.