Cam Cook Reveals Why WVU Beat Out Several Schools for His Commitment

When you lead the entire country in rushing, you will have the opportunity to play just about anywhere you want. Cam Cook could have returned to Jacksonville State for his final year of eligibility, but he knew that he would have great NIL opportunities at a Power Four school, as well as the chance to prove he can be the nation's top back while playing against the best of the best.

Cook had several schools pursuing him in the transfer portal, but ultimately his connection to WVU offensive line coach Rick Trickett, coupled with the style of offense Rich Rodriguez runs, made it a no-brainer for him.

“I definitely looked into their past history and their style," he said during an appearance on 3 Guys Before the Game. "That’s something I didn’t look into when I got to TCU. When I was a senior in high school, I wasn’t looking for what kind of play style fits me and what was good for me. I was just…this is close to home; I can be around my family still and still ball out. But at the end of the day, I just think that the play style hadn’t fit how I wanted to play. So going into the portal the first time, that’s something I looked at. I went to Jax State, and it definitely fit me. This is a similar scheme. We play fast, too, want to run the ball, and Coach Trickett came. The way he coached and the way he was so hard on our o-line, everybody was going to do their job. You didn’t have to worry about nobody. Everybody was going to go out there and put their best foot forward regardless. They trying not to get yelled at. He’s going to yell at you. He’s going to yell at me. He’s going to yell at everybody there, so you want to do whatever you can to be right around him.”

Trickett brought a couple of his big fellas with him to West Virginia this offseason in guard Amare "Bubba" Grayson and the ultra-versatile Cam Griffin, who has seen snaps at all five positions.

“They definitely were some guys I was leaning on last year," Cook stated. "Like, they knew what I was going through, and I knew what they were going through. So, just being able to have them here meant a lot, too. They bring that energy that we had last year; they bring that here. We got a bunch of dominant guys here.”

Assuming those hogmollies do their job and avoid getting yelled at by Trickett as much as humanly possible, Cook will have a great shot at putting up some ridiculous numbers once again. He was the owner of several mind-boggling stats last season, but the one that really catches your eye is maybe the most traditional stat line of them all — rushing attempts. Cook toted the rock a total of 295 times last year for the Gamecocks, equating to 22.7 carries per game.

That's something you don't see very often nowadays.

“I definitely felt the carries, but it didn’t mean nothing to me," said Cook. "I think before the season had started, I had talked to those coaches, and they told me what it was going to be, so I locked in on making sure my body was ready for that, making sure I was prepared for that. Making sure after every game, stay in the training room and make sure I get my body back to 100.”

It's probably safe to assume that with all of the inexperience behind Cook, he will see a heavy workload in 2026 as well. To what degree will be determined by how quickly some of those youngsters earn the trust of the coaching staff.

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