Webster University alumnus John Cooksey was recently inducted into the Webster Athletics Hall of Fame.
Cooksey starred on the basketball team and was a 1994 graduate with a BA in media communications. Cooksey later received his MA in business in 2005. Cooksey was one of five inductees to the Hall of Fame along with Brady Barke, Kjersti Ehrie, Andrew Fuiten and Jessica Kozeny Gorsuch.
Cooksey was a forward during his collegiate career and was named to the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) First Team All-Conference in 1993 and 1994. In 1992, Cooksey made the Second Team All-Conference. For his Webster career, Cooksey was first in blocked shots, second in rebounds, fourth in free throws and fifth in points.
“I’ll give credit,” Cooksey said. “Things like that don’t happen without good teammates and good coaches around you.”
Webster’s basketball program began in 1984. Cooksey played from 1991 to 1994.
“It was literally the first years of the SLIAC conference,” Cooksey said. “My first year, we actually played at Webster Groves High School while Grant Gymnasium and was being built.”
After graduating from Webster in 1994, Cooksey became the men’s basketball head coach at Kaskaskia College in Centralia, Ill. in 1999 and coached at Centralia’s junior college until 2008. He is currently a business instructor and men’s basketball head coach at Harry S. Truman College in Chicago.
Cooksey said that he was thankful to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“It was very humbling to get that phone call,” Cooksey said.
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