Jacob Greer Cohen (ג'ייק כהן; born September 25, 1990) is an American-Israeli 6' 10 " (2.10 m ) tall professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv ( he, מכבי תל אביב) is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such ...

of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional sports, professional competition in Israeli sports club, club basketball, making ...

and the EuroLeague. He also represents the Israeli national team in international competitions. Cohen played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Davidson College Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan� ...

, with the

Davidson Wildcats The Davidson Wildcats are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics teams representing Davidson College of Davidson, North Carolina, United States. A member of the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), Davidson College sponsors teams in ten men's ...

, from 2009 through 2013. He was a two-time Southern Conference Player of the Year, as both a junior and senior. He finished his college career in the top 10 all-time in the conference in career

defensive rebound In basketball, a rebound, sometimes colloquially referred to as a board, is a statistic awarded to a player who retrieves the ball after a missed field goal or free throw. Rebounds in basketball are a routine part in the game; if a shot is suc ...

s, offensive rebounds,

free throw percentage In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

s, and blocks.

Early life

Cohen is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, and was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, to David (who had played basketball at

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), began accepting non-Quakers in 1849, and became coeducational ...

) and Kate Cohen. Growing up he was a member of and attended Hebrew school at Temple Sholom in Broomall, where he had his Bar Mitzvah. His older brother, Josh, played football at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

. He was raised in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. By

seventh grade Seventh grade (or grade seven) is a year or level of education. The seventh grade is the eighth school year, the second or third year of middle school, and the first year of junior high school. Students are around 13-14 years old in this stage of ...

, he was .

High school career

While a high school student, he played for the Philadelphia

Jewish Community Center A Jewish Community Center or a Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is a general recreational, social clubs, social, and Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities. JCCs promote Jewish ...

(JCC) team, which won a gold medal at the 2007 JCC

Maccabi Games The Maccabiah Games (a.k.a. the World Maccabiah Games; he, משחקי המכביה, or משחקי המכביה העולמית; sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Olympics"), first held in 1932, are an international Jewish and Israeli multi-sp ...

as he scored 33 points in the finals. In high school, he played basketball at

Conestoga High School Conestoga High School, located in Tredyffrin Township, Pennsylvania, is the only upper secondary school in the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. It has a Berwyn post office address, though it is not in the Berwyn census-designated place. Co ...

Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania Tredyffrin Township ( ) is a township located in eastern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The population was 29,332 at the 2010 census. Settled in the late 17th century, Tredyffrin is bounded by Delaware and Montgomery counties. It includes on ...

. As a junior in 2008 he averaged 16 points and 12 rebounds per game, and was named All-Central League, All-

Chester County Chester County may refer to: * Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States * Chester County, South Carolina, United States * Chester County, Tennessee, United States * Cheshire or the County Palatine of Chester, a ceremonial county in the North Wes ...

, and

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Player of the Year. As a senior in 2009 he averaged 17.6 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots a game. He was named All-Main Line, Chester County Player of the Year, third-team Class AAAA All-State, Central League MVP, and was a

McDonald’s All-American The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the concl ...

nominee in 2009. He was a four-year Honor Roll student.

College career

Cohen, a

power forward The power forward (PF), also known as the four, is one of the five traditional Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. Traditionally, power forwards have played a role similar to center (basketball), centers. When on Of ...

, came to

in the 2009–10 season, and quickly joined the starting lineup of the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

. He became the first freshman to lead Davidson in scoring since All-American

Stephen Curry Wardell Stephen Curry II ( ; born March 14, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, ...

, averaging 13.3 points per game. He was named

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly ...

Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore in the 2010–11 season, he averaged 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds a game, ranked 2nd in the SoCon in blocked shots (and was 2nd in the Conference with 1.5 blocked shots per game) and 9th in rebounding and field-goal percentage, and was named a first-team All-American by the ''

Jewish Sports Review ''Jewish Sports Review (JSR)'' is a bi-monthly magazine that was established in 1997. Its editors are Ephraim Moxson and Shel Wallman. The magazine identifies which star and professional athletes are Jewish. It also covers and has all-time lists ...

''. As a junior in the 2011–12 season, Cohen scored 14.3 points (10th in the Conference) and grabbed 6.1 rebounds per game, led the Conference in free throws (141), blocked shots (55), and blocked shots per game (1.7), was 2nd in free throw percentage (.876), and was named Southern Conference Player of the Year by the league's media. In an unusual move, Cohen's teammate

De'Mon Brooks De'Mon Brooks (born May 28, 1992) is an American basketball player who plays for Levanga Hokkaido of the Japanese B.League. He completed his college career at Davidson College after the 2013–14 season. In the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's ba ...

was named player of the year by the league's coaches. As a senior in the 2012–13 season, he averaged 14.9 points (6th in the Conference), 5.3 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. He shot 39% from 3-point range, 50% from two-point range (5th in the Conference), and 83% from the free throw line (4th in the Conference), and had 128 free throws (2nd in the Conference) and 56 blocks (2nd in the Conference), 1.6 blocked shots per game (2nd in the Conference), and 508 points (3rd in the Conference). He was voted as SoCon Player of the Year by the league's head coaches and the media. Cohen ended his college career as Davidson's all-time leader in blocks (197) and starts (123). He was also 2nd in free-throws made (451), 6th in points (1,795), 7th in field-goals made (611), 8th in free-throw percentage (.805), and 9th in rebounds (747). He was 2nd all-time in the Southern Conference in defensive rebounds (515), 5th in offensive rebounds (232), 7th in free throw percentage (.805) and free throws (451), and 8th in blocks (197).

Professional career

Cohen went

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in the 2013 NBA draft. He was signed to the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

summer league team immediately following the draft, and played for it in July 2013. He signed a four-year contract with

in July 2013. In the 2013–14 season, he played 10 games for Maccabi Tel Aviv, and 14 games on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

for Maccabi Rishon Le Zion. He moved back to Maccabi Tel Aviv for the 2014–15 season. On August 18, 2015, Cohen signed an annual contract with

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

team

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

. On July 29, 2016, Cohen signed with

Maccabi Ashdod Maccabi Ashdod B.C. ( he, מכבי אשדוד) is a professional basketball team based in the port city of Ashdod, Israel. The team currently plays in the Israeli National League. History The team was founded in 1961 by "Maccabi Ashdod Sports ...

for the 2016–17 season. On May 8, 2017, Cohen recorded a season-high 27 points, shooting 12-of-16 from the field, along with 6 rebounds and 6 assists in an 85–95 loss to

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 ...

. In 32 games played during the 2016–17 season, Cohen averaged 13.2 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. On June 27, 2017, Cohen returned to

for a second stint, signing a two-year deal. Cohen helped Maccabi win the 2017 Israeli League Cup. On June 14, 2018, Cohen recorded 18 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the field, along with 5 rebounds and 4 steals in the championship game against

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club ( he, מועדון הכדורסל הפועל חולון), known for sponsorship reasons as Hapoel Atsmon Playgrounds Holon (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli B ...

and helped Maccabi win the 2018 Israeli League Championship after a 95–75 victory. On May 27, 2019, Cohen recorded a season-high 21 points, shooting 8-of-11 from the field, along with three rebounds, four assists and two steals, in an 85–72 playoff win over Hapoel Tel Aviv. Cohen helped Maccabi win the 2019 Israeli League Championship, winning his second straight Israeli League title in the process. On June 25, 2019, Cohen signed a one-year contract extension with Maccabi. On December 23, 2019, Cohen recorded a double-double with a career-high 33 points and 14 rebounds, while shooting 14-of-22 from the field, in a 112–110 double overtime win over

. He was subsequently named Israeli League Round 11 MVP. On January 2, 2019, Cohen was named Israeli League Player of the Month for games played in December. Cohen signed with

Obradoiro CAB Obradoiro Clube de Amigos do Baloncesto (lit, Obradoiro Friends of Basketball Club), also known as Monbus Obradoiro for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team based in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia. They currently compete in t ...

of the

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

on July 29, 2020. On October 8, he was named the top Israeli playing abroad for the week after posting 13 points against

Bilbao Basket Club Basket Bilbao Berri S.A.D., commonly known as Bilbao Basket (), also known as Surne Bilbao Basket for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Bilbao, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. Their home arena is the Bilba ...

. On July 5, 2021, he has signed with

of the

International career

Cohen, who was granted

Israeli citizenship Israeli citizenship law details the conditions by which a person holds citizenship of Israel. The two primary pieces of legislation governing these requirements are the 1950 Law of Return and 1952 Citizenship Law. Every Jew in the world has ...

on the basis of his being Jewish, represented Israel in the

FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship The FIBA U20 European Championship, previously known as the European Championship for Men '22 and Under', is a men's youth basketball competition that was inaugurated with the 1992 edition. Through the 2004 edition, it was held biennially, but ...

Division B in Austria in 2010. He led the tournament in scoring at 20 ppg, led all players in the tournament with 87% free throw shooting, led all players in fouls drawn per game (6.4), and was named to the all-tournament team. He was on the Team USA roster for the

2013 Maccabiah Games The 19th Maccabiah ( he, המכביה התשע-עשרה) were held during July 18 to 30, 2013. The Games brought together 7,500 competing athletes, making it the third-largest international sporting event in the world after the Olympic Games and ...

, but did not play because he instead was playing in the NBA summer league in an effort to be picked by an NBA team. Cohen is a member of the senior men's

Israeli national basketball team The Israel men's national basketball team ( he, נבחרת ישראל בכדורסל) represents Israel in international basketball tournaments. They are administered by the Israeli Basketball Association. Israel is currently ranked 33rd in the ...

, On November 24, 2017, he made his first appearance for the senior team at the

2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification The 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification was the first FIBA Basketball World Cup, World Cup for which teams had to qualify for under the new qualification system. The process determined 31 out of the 32 teams that participated at the 2019 ...

match against

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, recording 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.

Career statistics

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;", Maccabi , 4 , , 2 , , 3.8 , , .200 , , .000 , , .000 , , .3 , , .3 , , .3 , , .0 , , .5 , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;", Maccabi , 15 , , 2 , , 5.7 , , .470 , , .286, , .800 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .2 , , .1 , , 1.5 , , 1.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2017–18 , style="text-align:left;", Maccabi , 19 , , 0 , , 7.5 , , .451 , , .500 , , .778 , , 1.6 , , .2 , , .1 , , .0 , , 2.1 , , 2.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2018–19 , style="text-align:left;", Maccabi , 25 , , 0 , , 8.6 , , .450 , , .400 , , .786 , , 1.1 , , .6 , , .2 , , .0 , , 2.9 , , 2.4 , - , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 63 , , 4 , , 7.2 , , .442 , , .400 , , .786 , , 1.2 , , .4 , , .2 , , .0 , , 2.2 , , 1.9 Israel Basketball Premier League

References

External links

Israeli League profile

Euroleague profile

Eurobasket.com profile

Davidson Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Jake 1990 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Aris B.C. players Centers (basketball) Davidson Wildcats men's basketball players Israeli men's basketball players Jewish American sportspeople Jewish men's basketball players Liga ACB players Maccabi Ashdod B.C. players Maccabi Rishon LeZion basketball players Maccabi Tel Aviv B.C. players Obradoiro CAB players People from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Power forwards (basketball) Basketball players from Montgomery County, Pennsylvania 21st-century American Jews