Sep. 15—Nearly a year after he sustained an ankle injury that cost him his final year of college basketball, Andrew Cook got that year back this week.
"It was a long, winding road," said Ryan Lundgren, Eastern Washington's associate head men's basketball coach. "It's been a really heavy weight for the last 11 months since the injury."
On Monday, Cook was granted a preliminary injunction in Washington state court that will allow him to compete for the Eagles during the 2026-27 men's basketball season.
It was the culmination of a six-month legal process that began in the spring, when the NCAA denied Cook his appeal for a medical waiver that he hoped would allow him to play one final season for the Eagles. Cook missed all of the 2025-26 season because of the injury he suffered in practice last October.
But throughout the season, Eastern's coaches said Cook's case was unique from other medical appeals. That was because the only reason Cook was even eligible in 2025-26 was because of a separate NCAA decision that allowed eligibility through that season for athletes who had previously competed at junior colleges. Cook played his first three years at NAIA Carroll College in Helena, Montana.
"All I am asking for is what I was already promised," Cook said in April when the NCAA first denied his original appeal for a waiver. "I'm not fighting for another year that I was never actually given. I was actually allowed to have an extra year, and unfortunately I didn't get to use it."
With the help of a team of lawyers and the support of the Eagles' coaches and athletic department, Cook filed a lawsuit over the summer. His hearing was last Friday. Lundgren said about 30 people were present in Cook's support.
"Everybody is just really excited for Andrew because it's something he deserved, something we strongly felt he should be awarded," Lundgren said. " ... All the ups and downs of the loss of the season and the surgery and the legal process, It's been a lot on the kid. He was pretty overcome with joy."
The re-addition of Cook rounds out Eastern's 15-player roster, including the addition of Zach Trezvant, a 7-foot center from the United Kingdom.
In 2024-25, Cook led the Eagles in scoring at 15.8 points per game and made 88.1% of his free throws, the best percentage in the Big Sky Conference.
The Eagles will start practice at the end of September and are scheduled to play an exhibition game on Oct. 18 at home against Cal State Bakersfield.
