Derek Cooke Jr. (born August 23, 1991) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for Treviso Basket of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club basketball league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP). It is the highest-tier ...

(LBA). He played three years of Division I college basketball for

Wyoming Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the s ...

High school career

Cooke attended

Friendly High School Friendly High School is a public high school in Friendly census-designated place in unincorporated Prince George's County, a county in the state of Maryland in the United States; it has a Fort Washington postal address.

Fort Washington, Maryland Fort Washington is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It borders the Potomac River, situated 20 miles south of the downtown Washington, DC. As of the 2020 census it had a popul ...

, where he was a wide receiver on the football team and did not play basketball. An NCAA qualifier after graduating, he decided to take a year off from school and also hit a growth spurt, before enrolling at

Cloud County Community College Cloud County Community College is a public community college with campuses in Concordia and Junction City, Kansas. Concordia campus Cloud County Community College was founded in Concordia in 1965 and began classes in the Concordia Junior-Sen ...

to play basketball.

College career

Cooke spent one year at Cloud County CC. During his freshman season, he helped the Thunderbirds to a 25–8 overall record. Cloud County went 11–5 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and advanced to the semifinals of the NJCAA Division I Region VI Tournament. Cooke notched team highs of 8.4 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 55 percent from the floor to go with 6.0 points and nearly one steal per game. In 2012, Cooke transferred to

. During his senior season, Cooke averaged 8.1 points and 5.8 rebounds while helping the Cowboys reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002.

Professional career

Rethymno Cretan Kings (2015)

After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft, on June 25, 2015, Cooke signed with the Rethymno Cretan Kings of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

. However, he parted ways with the club in late October after appearing in just three games.

Northern Arizona Suns (2015–2017)

On November 2, 2015, he was acquired by the

Bakersfield Jam Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's pop ...

of the NBA Development League. In July 2016, Cooke joined the Phoenix Suns for the

2016 NBA Summer League The 2016 NBA Summer League consisted of three pro basketball leagues organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA): the Orlando Pro Summer League, Utah Jazz Summer League, and Las Vegas Summer League. Ten teams participated in the week- ...

. On September 25, 2016, he signed with the Suns, but was waived on October 10. On October 31, 2016, he was acquired by the

Northern Arizona Suns The Motor City Cruise are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Detroit, Michigan, and are affiliated with the Detroit Pistons. The Cruise play their home games at Wayne State Fieldhouse. The franchise began play a ...

as an affiliate player of Phoenix.

Perth Wildcats (2017–2018)

On July 27, 2017, Cooke signed with the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at Perth Arena, ...

for the

2017–18 NBL season The 2017–18 NBL season was the 40th season of the National Basketball League since its establishment in 1979. A total of eight teams contested the league. The regular season was played between October 2017 and February 2018, followed by a post ...

. He appeared in all 30 games for the Wildcats in 2017–18, averaging 5.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

Second stint with Northern Arizona Suns (2018–2019)

Cooke re-joined the

in October 2018.

Raptors 905 (2019)

On January 15, 2019, the

Raptors 905 The Raptors 905 are a Canadian professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Mississauga, Ontario, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fi ...

acquired Cooke from the

for Khadeem Lattin and the returning rights to Yanick Moreira.

Hamilton Honey Badgers (2019)

After the conclusion of the

2018–19 NBA G League season The 2018–19 NBA G League season was the 18th season of the NBA G League, the official minor league basketball organization owned by the National Basketball Association (NBA). League changes The league expanded by one team, the Capital City Go-G ...

, Cooke was drafted into the startup Canadian Elite Basketball League's Hamilton Honey Badgers, where he would reunite with former Raptors 905 teammates,

MiKyle McIntosh MiKyle Mervyn McIntosh (born July 19, 1994) is a Canadian professional basketball player who last played for the Tasmania JackJumpers of the Australian National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Illinois State Redbirds ...

and

Duane Notice Duane Notice (born September 7, 1994) is a Canadian basketball player for the Sudbury Five of the National Basketball League of Canada. He played college basketball for the University of South Carolina where he is the all-time leader in games p ...

Pallacanestro Trieste (2019–2020)

On July 14, 2019, he has signed with

Pallacanestro Trieste Pallacanestro Trieste 2004 is an Italian professional basketball club based in Trieste. They play in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) since the 2018–19 season. The Allianz Dome serves as the club's home arena. History A number of Trieste teams h ...

of the

(LBA).

Canadian Elite Basketball League (2020)

In July 2020, Cooke joined the Hamilton Honey Badgers for the

2020 CEBL season The 2020 CEBL season was the second season of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL). It was played from July 25 to August 9 at the Meridian Centre in St. Catharines, Ontario. The season was scheduled to take place from May 7 to August 6, w ...

Tsmoki-Minsk (2021)

On January 2, 2021, he signed with Tsmoki-Minsk of the

VTB United League VTB United League (russian: Единая Лига ВТБ) is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2008. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it ...

Brose Bamberg (2021)

On July 30, 2021, he signed with

Brose Bamberg Brose Bamberg is a German professional basketball team from Bamberg, Franconia / North Bavaria. The club has won the German Championship title nine times and the German Cup five times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketbal ...

of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).

Hapoel Gilboa Galil (2021–2022)

On October 25, 2021, he signed with

Hapoel Gilboa Galil Hapoel Gilboa Galil ( he, הפועל גלבוע גליל) is a professional basketball club that is based in north-east Israel. The club plays its home game in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball) in a 2,250- ...

of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

Treviso Basket (2022–present)

On July 21, 2022, he has signed with Treviso Basket of the

(LBA).

References

External links

NBDL profileWyoming Cowboys bio"Cooke Jr paves unique path to pro basketball"
at wildcats.com.au
"Perth brings key Wildcat Derek Cooke Jnr 'peace of mind'"
at thewest.com.au {{DEFAULTSORT:Cooke, Derek 1991 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Australia American expatriate basketball people in Belarus American expatriate basketball people in Canada American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Bakersfield Jam players Basketball players from Washington, D.C. BC Tsmoki-Minsk players Brose Bamberg players Centers (basketball) Hapoel Gilboa Galil Elyon players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Lega Basket Serie A players Northern Arizona Suns players Pallacanestro Trieste players Perth Wildcats players Power forwards (basketball) Raptors 905 players Rethymno B.C. players Universo Treviso Basket players Wyoming Cowboys basketball players