"She is one of those kids who you have to have on your team. She is the kind of player who never stops playing hard," says basketball coach Michelle Wood. "She is not the biggest or strongest players out there, but she plays with that kind of intensity and desire."
"My teammates kind of joke about it, but I always say give 110 percent, and I apply that to basically every aspect of my life because if you are not going to do your best at something, then why bother," he says. "My parents have instilled that work belief in me since day one."
Wood says there have been games that she has not taken Cocker out because she plays so hard and never gets tired.
"If a team is going to be successful, then you have to have a type of player like her who is always in the right spot and always doing what she is supposed all of the time," Wood says. "You never have to question her intensity and her effort on the court."
Cocker is a honor student and a definite leader in the classroom who has made an impression on Katherine Asaro, her high school yearbook advisor.
"Alexis was so helpful right from the beginning and really took a leadership position in trying to explain to me how things should be running and explaining things to the new students," she says. "Right from the beginning, it was obviously that she is a born leader."
Alexis Cooker is this week's winner of the Extra Effort Award. Tom Suiter's Extra Effort award airs Wednesdays during WRAL's 6:00 News.
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