Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook has been named the 2000 Tachikara/AVCA Division I Coach of the Year, the AVCA announced Thursday.

	First-year volleyball coach John Cook and the Huskers are No. 1.

Cook was one of seven finalists for the award, winning the honor after guiding Nebraska to a 32-0 record, a No. 1 ranking, a Big 12 Conference championship and an NCAA Final Four berth in his first season.

"When I first started coaching, I could never have predicted that I would be a volleyball coach of the year," Cook said in his acceptance speech before approximately 300 AVCA members at a banquet in Richmond, Va., Thursday. "I wanted to be a football coach, but the only way I could get a teaching job was to coach volleyball. That was my introduction to the sport.

"Now, I look around this room and see so many coaches who I have learned from. I hope that I can continue to be that kind of role model to the younger coaches here. I want to continue to represent the team and the university well. This really means a lot."

Nebraska, which could become just the second team in NCAA history to end the season with a perfect record, swept 25 of its 32 opponents this season under Cook. With his success at Nebraska this season, Cook, the head coach at Wisconsin from 1992 to 1998, has improved his career record to 193-73.

Cook is the second Husker volleyball coach to be recognized as the AVCA Coach of the Year. His predecessor, Terry Pettit, won the award in 1986 and 1994.

In order to be qualify for the award, a coach must win coach of the year in his or her region. Other candidates for the 2000 honor were Jolene Nagel of Duke, Pete Waite of Wisconsin, Nancy Mueller of South Florida, Jojit Coronel of George Washington, Jerritt Elloit of Southern California, Mary Wise of Florida and John Dunning of Pacific.

Cook, 43, took over the Husker program after serving as Nebraska's associate head coach in 1999. Cook came to Nebraska after serving as head coach at Wisconsin for seven seasons. Cook was also an assistant coach under Pettit for three seasons from 1988 to 1991.

During his tenure at Wisconsin, Cook built the Badger program into a top-10 program during his seven-year career in Madison, including back-to-back trips to the NCAA regional finals in 1997 and 1998. Cook compiled a 161-73 record at the helm of the Badgers, including an 89-51 league mark in one of the nation's toughest conferences.

Cook was named the Big Ten co-Coach and AVCA District 2 Coach of the Year after leading the Badgers to a share of the 1997 Big 10 title with a 19-1 mark and school-record 30-3 overall record. In his seven years as head coach, the Badgers advanced to six straight postseason tournaments. In 1995, Wisconsin won the National Invitational Volleyball Championship with a perfect 6-0 record.

During his tenure at UW, he coached four All-Americans, nine AVCA All-District award winners, 11 All-Big Ten honorees and two Big Ten Freshmen of the Year. He also coached 21 Academic All-Big 10 selections during his seven seasons.