South Carolina women’s basketball alum Zia Cooke reflects on WNBA rookie season
At South Carolina, guard Zia Cooke became an All-American and All-SEC selection as well as a national champion in 2022. In the WNBA, she impressed with her energy, defensive prowess and ability to make an immediate impact on a team brimming with veteran talent.
Ahead of South Carolina’s football homecoming game against the Florida Gators last weekend (which Cooke attended along with her fellow “Freshies,” minus Aliyah Boston), Cooke talked with The State to reflect on her rookie season with the Los Angeles Sparks:
Question: How did your rookie season in the WNBA go? How did it compare with your expectations?
Cooke: It was good. It was everything that I wanted it to be. I say all the time, being in the (WNBA) was a dream come true for me. So I always cherished every moment being on that floor. It didn’t go exactly as I planned for myself. But I did plan to learn. And I can say that’s something that was successful for me. I came out of this season learning a lot, understanding a lot, knowing the areas I need to get better at and just ways that I can improve. So being a sponge was super important to me this past season. And next year, I plan to be even better and continue to learn.
Q: What would you say are your biggest lessons or greatest takeaways from your first season?
Cooke: In college it’s a lot different because you don’t play as many games as you do in the W. So I think my biggest takeaway was learning that I can’t keep thinking about, ‘Oh, we just lost this game,’ because we might have a game literally the next day or the day after. So I think that was my biggest takeaway, being able to turn the page a lot quicker than I had to in college. Just understanding that there’s another game coming up.
And the pace of the game as well. You gotta catch on very quickly. You have to know what’s going on in order to be on the floor. And even though you’re a rookie, you can’t really make too many rookie mistakes. You gotta show that you know the game a little bit, or you’re learning the game.
Q: Talking specifically about your experience on the Sparks with all the talented veterans on that team, was there anybody you felt like you gravitated toward or who kind of took you under their wings?
Cooke: I get this one a lot. A lot of people think I’m being biased, but truthfully, I went to a different teammate for different things. So if I needed a teammate to just talk to outside of basketball, I was going to talk to Azurá Stevens. So that’s somebody I’m going to if I just want to vent. But on the court, I could go to all of my vets. It wasn’t just one person that I can go through. Of course, Nneka (Ogwumike) is the highest of the highest, so anytime I had any confusion, anytime I needed help, anytime I was frustrated, she was the one that I was talking to. If I needed help on plays, I’m talking to Jasmine Thomas, or I’m talking to Jordin Canada. So all of my vets I was able to talk to.
Q: There’s a big network of Gamecocks in the league. What was it like to experience that where you have a sort of sorority there, but then at the same time, they’re also your competition?
Cooke: I think that was definitely one of the best parts about being in the W and seeing the people that you played with for four years in the same position that you are. And even the vets that we have now in a W that are from South Carolina. But I definitely think seeing L.A. (Laeticia Amihere) and Victaria (Saxton) and Aliyah (Boston), we’re walking out, and we see each other warming up, you’re seeing each other doing what we’ve dreamt to do our whole lives. It feels pretty good. I think being able to walk up to them and give him a hug, every time I cherish that. Because I know the work that we’ve all put into be in this position. But when it’s time to be on the court and compete, we’re gonna compete at the end of the day. And we take it very seriously. So when we played against Aliyah., me and her was trash-talking during the game. It was a good thing for us. And then L.A., we were trash-talking, too. It’s playful, but at the end of the day, we’re serious. So whoever is going home with the dub, we’re definitely gonna talk about it.
Q: Do you have any overseas plans for the offseason, or will you stay here and train?
Cooke: I won’t be going overseas this year.
Q: You talked about how your goal for this year was to be a sponge and learn and everything. Do you have a list of goals for next year, or is that still in the works?
Cooke: My goal for next year is to be comfortable on the floor. Understanding my spots and learning to W to a tee. Because each level that you get at, you just got to learn it. You have to learn the system. You have to learn your spots. You have to learn what you’re capable of doing. So I think that’s what I’m working toward. When I’m working out, I’m making sure that I’m doing in-game things, things that I know that we’ll do next year or that I want to do next year. Understanding reads, watching film and doing things like that to help my game get to where I want it to be. I do think that it will be a great year for me just because of how much I was able to learn and how I’m able to understand what the WNBA really is.
