The 1942-43 University of Tennessee basketball season ended with a bang, an SEC tournament championship victory over Kentucky in Louisville.
On the last day of February, the Vols upended LSU in the semifinals then came back later in the evening to knock off Adolph Rupp's Wildcats.
Ted Cook was a defensive star for the Vols that weekend in Louisville. Milt Ticco was Kentucky's leading scorer that season. He was shut out in UT's 33-30 victory, thanks in large part to Cook's attentions.
Cook wouldn't play another college basketball game for three years.
That was due to another guy named Adolph.
While the Vols were making headlines on the sports page, the front page was dominated by accounts of Afrika Korps and Guadacanal.
World War II was calling. Uncle Sam needed young men like Cook and his teammates to defeat the Japanese and Adolph Hitler's Wehrmacht.
When Cook got back to campus in 1946, he hadn't lost the touch on his patented long-range set shots.
He was a captain of both the UT basketball and golf teams in 1946-47.
He remained a top-flight golfer long after his basketball career ended and both skills contributed to his election this year into The Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame.
The induction dinner is July 9 at the Convention Center.
"He was a good golfer, but a better basketball player,'' said son John Cook.
Ted Cook died in 1990. He is survived by wife Dorothy, three sons and two popular Kingston Pike businesses: Toddy's Package Store and the Back Door Tavern.
Actually, Cook was a three-sport star.
"He was the state of West Virginia marble champion when he was 13,'' John Cook said. "He went to the national tournament and was runner-up.''
But it was his marksmanship with a basketball that impressed Tennessee.
When coach John Mauer went to visit Cook at his hometown, Beckley, W.Va. Cook put on a shooting display that warranted a scholarship offer.
Cook played in 1941, '42 and '43. He was named to the SEC all-tournament team after his defensive artistry helped the Vols win the title in Louisville.
He trained dogs for the Army during World War II, then came back to campus with a number of other veterans to resume his career in the summer of 1946.
After his final season at UT, Cook played pro basketball for a few years, including a season with the Minneapolis Lakers.
As the story goes, two rival leagues were merging to form what became the NBA. Minneapolis acquired superstar George Mikan from the league that folded, but had to cut several players to afford his salary.
Cook was one of the expendable.
"Dad met Mikan once,'' John Cook said. "He was walking out of the locker room as Mikan was walking in.''
Cook went to war again, in Korea, then came back to Knoxville and signed on as an assistant golf coach for the Vols for a number of years.
He was also a club champion at Deane Hill four times.
But Cook never lost his love for basketball. He forged a friendship with Rupp (who had recruited him) and visited with the family whenever the Wildcats came to Knoxville.
Once, Cook was introduced to a shy young basketball coach at a gathering in Knoxville. Cook asked the coach if he'd like to speak to Rupp and then called The Baron on the phone to make the introduction.
The young coach never forgot it. His name was Dean Smith.
Cook was a fixture at UT home games, sitting close to the opponents' bench in order to effectively heckle.
"He had to be out of town one time when Kentucky came in,'' John Cook said. "Coach Rupp wanted to know where Cook was.''
He's in the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame now.
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