William Cook beats cancer and earns a place in the VWSD Athletics Hall of Fame

Last updated: September 20, 2026

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) —

William Cook beat kidney cancer and is now celebrating another milestone in his life after being inducted into the Vicksburg-Warren School District Athletics Hall of Fame.

Cook was officially inducted Thursday alongside nine other new members who were introduced by Athletics Director James Lewis.

Cook, who spent 20 years coaching junior high basketball at Vicksburg and Warren Central, stood tall during the ceremony and used the moment to express his faith and gratitude after overcoming a battle with kidney cancer.

“I thank the Lord Jesus for saving my soul and saving my life,” Cook said.

Cook shared that there was a point during his battle with kidney cancer when he believed he was dying and did not expect to live through January. During that difficult time, he said he made a promise to God.

“I made the Lord a promise that if he healed me I would always give him the credit,” Cook said. “Now, you’re looking at a man who had no chemo, no radiation, just prayer. One month ago, my two cancer doctors told me I was cancer-free.”

Cook’s Hall of Fame honor recognizes a coaching career that spanned two decades and impacted generations of young athletes.

His journey into education, however, was never supposed to last that long.

Cook initially planned to teach for only one year after promising his mother, a 29-year teaching veteran, that he would give the profession a try. He soon fell in love with working with junior high students, beginning a career that would extend far beyond his original plan.

Cook eventually left coaching and teaching to work for Waterways, but his time away from education did not last. He returned after feeling that the Lord had called him to work with junior high students.

During his 20 years as a junior high coach, Cook led boys basketball programs at Vicksburg Junior High School and Warren Central Junior High School. His teams won numerous junior high championships, but his impact extended beyond wins and losses.

Cook played a key role in bringing discipline and structure into the lives of the many young athletes he coached.

While his basketball teams enjoyed plenty of success, Cook credited his wife for making sacrifices that allowed him to devote so much time to young athletes.

“I’m so thankful for my wife because she played mommy and daddy during basketball season while I had to be daddy to some more boys,” he said.

Cook also expressed his gratitude for his sons. Three of them now run the family business, while another serves as a superintendent of a school district.

Despite being the coach whose name accompanied multiple championships, Cook refused to take all the credit for those accomplishments. Instead, he turned the attention toward the players who worked for him and eventually grew into men.

“Through it all, I have to be thankful for those young men whose backs I rode,” Cook said. “They did the very best they could and they became great men and they carried me, so I’m here because of them.”

After 20 years of coaching, countless young lives impacted and numerous championships, Cook’s Hall of Fame induction served as a celebration of more than his career.

For Cook, it was also an opportunity to stand before his family, former players and community as a cancer survivor and give thanks for the life he says God gave him another chance to live.