I think Cook has had a pretty good season so far, and that the expectations placed on him probably were not fair. I think Rhefuss coming in a number of years ago and playing really well off the bench probably set our expectations too high for what a freshman attackman could do. Rice took a few years to really become an All American type player.
If you want to make the comparision, Cook seems to have really good footwork like Rice, but Rice was also a lot stronger. He really fought through checks and didn't shy away from contact. You can still see hesitancy in Cook's game, hopefully it is something he'll grow from. The one thing that has me a little concerned is he is not as fast as I was expecting. He is shifty but not sure he can leave his defender in the dust. Also needs to change levels on his shot more than he does. Lastly, Rice always played with his head up and looked for his teammates first, I don't get that sense from Cook yet. In Cook's defense it really helped Rice to play with Donahue, Staats, Galasso, etc ... He has a lot to work on but by no means is the door closed.