Big Sky Conference

Hooker’s emergence creating Twin Cities inroads for UND

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Quinton Hooker has always strived to help put the Twin Cities on the basketball map. His efficient, standout junior season has moved him into a spot as a leader of the pack.

The Minneapolis-St. Paul area has produced a slew of great athletes over the year, most of who thrive with skates and a stick on the hockey rink. Hooker, a first-team All-Big Sky Conference selection as a junior at the University of North Dakota, is doing his best to change it.

Quinton Hooker fall away“I take pride being from the Twin Cities,” Hooker said earlier this season. “Minnesota hasn’t always been known for basketball. For the Midwest, it’s been the hockey state. Growing up, there’s this thing that everyone from the Minneapolis area, we all knew each other, played with each other, went to each other’s open gyms. With AAU, people making it to big-time schools, like Tyus (Jones) going to college and playing professional too, it’s something we take pride in.”

Tyus Jones starred at Duke for a year before taking his talents to the NBA. The Minnesota Timberwolves guard and Hooker have frequented open gyms and other basketball circles for the past few years.

This season, Hooker has been one of the Big Sky’s strongest guards and a key to North Dakota’s success. Hooker is averaging 20.8 points per game, including 22.3 points per Big Sky contest. He is shooting 53.3 percent against conference competition, including 46.9 percent from beyond the arc, the top mark in the league.

“He’s a first-team All-Big Sky guy,” said Montana State head coach Brian Fish, who’s Bobcats gave up 25 points to Hooker in an 89-82 win last weekend. “When he didn’t make shots over in Missoula (Hooker was 2-of-11), you know that’s not going to last long. I knew we would get their best shot and Hooker would lead the way.”

Hooker’s emergence at UND has opened up a pipeline from the Twin Cities to Grand Forks. UND stud freshman Geno Crandall is one of five players on the Fighting Hawks who hails from the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

Quinton Hooker free throw“The kids from up there have had good experience and good careers,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “When you get a guy like Quinton Hooker who is really well respected in that city, that opens it up. He’s already had a really solid career and he’s having a special year this year. When you get special guys like that, they go back in the summer time and they are our best recruiters.”

The leadership of Hooker on a team that features no seniors has been integral as UND has remained competitive. The Fighting Hawks enter this week’s Big Sky Tournament in Reno as the No. 5 seed after posting a 10-8 record in Big Sky play. Hooker has been a sort of mentor to Crandall, a hyper-aggressive redshirt freshman who provided double-figures scorer and some of the most swarming perimeter defense in the league.

“Quinton sets the ton and it starts with his work ethic, every day bringing it,” Jones said. “He goes as hard as he can go every day. He’s always been a hard worker but he knows this year it’s his team. He’s doing it on a consistent basis.”

As a standout at Park Center High in Brooklyn Park, Hooker poured in more than 2,000 points in his high school career. In 2013, he was named a Minnesota Mr. Basketball honoree after averaging 23 points per game and leading his team to the Class 4A state title game. He held offers from Wisconsin-Milwaukee, South Dakota State, North Dakota State, Tulsa, Tulane, Wofford, Florida Gulf Coast, Lehigh and UND.

Hooker broke into UND’s starting lineup as a true freshman two seasons ago and put together a modest first season. He averaged 4.2 points and 2.2 assists per game as UND advanced to the Big Sky Tournament championship game.

Quinton Hooker strongLast season, Hooker emerged as a force in the league. He poured in 12.4 points and 4.2 assists per game, including 14.6 points and 5.2 assists per game in league play. Over the last six games of the season, Hooker showed flashes of things to come. He scored 20 or more points in all six contests, averaging 22 points per game down the stretch. He poured in a career-high 28 points at Northern Colorado in the regular-season finale.

Hooker harnessed the momentum, then spent the summer honing his craft, specifically focusing on his mid-range and outside shooting. The bullish 6-foot, 205-pounder has never had a problem getting in the paint.

“The main thing working in the off-season was shooting,” Hooker said. “I’ve also worked on a variety of different moves and go-tos. Another thing is getting in the weight room, getting stronger and in better shape. A key thing we focused on is watching myself, studying where I get myself shots and how I can get other people open. It’s been a lot of breaking down my game.”

For certain stretches this season, Hooker has been simply unstoppable. After UND suffered a road sweep at Eastern Washington and Idaho, Hooker felt frustration. He made just three of his 13 shot attempts in a 65-64 loss in Moscow. The next week three games, he exerted his authority with one of the best stretches by any guard this season.

“He took that to heart and was disappointed in himself after that road swing,” Jones said. “You got a lot of extra shots up and was focused on getting extra shots and being ready. Sometimes, when you have a bad weekend, it hones your focus.”

Quinton Hooker looks to passHooker poured in 26 points and dished out four assists in a 74-73 win over UNC. He converted 15-of-20 shots and poured in a career-high 38 points in an 80-77 win over Portland State. The next night, Hooker hit 11-of-12 shots, including all five of his 3s on the way to 34 points in a 97-71 win over Sacramento State. For his week, Hooker earned the Lou Henson National Mid-major Player of the Week award.

“It was pretty crazy to have that national attention,” Hooker said. “That was the first time for me. It’s an honor, a blessing and it was really exciting for me.

“The week before were the toughest game for the team this year, that road trip in general. It forced me to get back to the basics and get in the gym more and prepare better and focus in most.”

North Dakota dropped each of its games in its season-ending road trip through Montana. But the Fighting Hawks, who play 12th-seeded Southern Utah on Tuesday afternoon, have a fighting chance because of Hooker’s ability to take over a game.

“He’s allowed the game to come to him,” Jones said. “He’s not rushing, he’s not pushing. He’s still a pass first guy. He’s going to try to get his team involved early so when it does come back to him later in the half, the opportunities are greater because there is more space. He knows he has to have help around him for the big picture. His understanding of the big picture could help us go far.”

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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