American basketball player
Derek Cooke Jr. (born August 23, 1991) is an American professional basketball player. He played three years of Division I college basketball for Wyoming .
High school career
Cooke attended Friendly High School in Fort Washington, Maryland , 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 to play basketball.[ 1]
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.[ 1]
In 2012, Cooke transferred to Wyoming . 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.[ 1] [ 2]
Professional career
After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft , on June 25, 2015, Cooke signed with the Rethymno Cretan Kings of the Greek Basket League .[ 2] [ 3]
On November 2, 2015, he was acquired by the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League .[ 4]
In July 2016, Cooke joined the Phoenix Suns for the 2016 NBA Summer League . On September 25, 2016, he signed with the Suns,[ 5] [ 6] Northern Arizona Suns as an affiliate player of Phoenix.[ 7]
On July 27, 2017, Cooke signed with the Perth Wildcats for the 2017–18 NBL season .[ 8]
Cooke re-joined the Northern Arizona Suns in October 2018.[ 9]
On January 15, 2019, the Raptors 905 acquired Cooke from the Northern Arizona Suns for Khadeem Lattin and the returning rights to Yanick Moreira .[ 10]
After the conclusion of the 2018–19 NBA G League season , Cooke was drafted into the startup Canadian Elite Basketball League 's Hamilton Honey Badgers ,[ 11] MiKyle McIntosh and Duane Notice .
On July 14, 2019, he has signed with Pallacanestro Trieste of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).[ 12]
In July 2020, Cooke joined the Hamilton Honey Badgers for the 2020 CEBL season .[ 13]
On January 2, 2021, he signed with Tsmoki-Minsk of the VTB United League .[ 14]
On July 30, 2021, he signed with Brose Bamberg of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).[ 15]
On October 25, 2021, he signed with Hapoel Gilboa Galil of the Israeli Premier League .[ 16]
On July 21, 2022, he has signed with Treviso Basket of the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).[ 17]
On February 28, 2023, he signed with Skyliners Frankfurt of the Basketball Bundesliga .[ 18]
On August 5, 2023, he signed with Dolomiti Energia Trento of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).[ 19]
References
^ a b c "Bio for Derek Cooke Jr" . GoWyo.com . Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016 .^ a b "Former Wyoming forward Derek Cooke Jr. signs with Greek professional team" . Trib.com . June 24, 2015. Retrieved November 6, 2015 .^ "Rethymno announces rookie Derek Cooke" . Sportando.com . June 25, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2015 .^ "Jam Announce 2015-16 Training Camp Roster" . NBA.com . November 2, 2015. Archived from the original on August 11, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2015 .^ "Phoenix Suns Sign Four Players ahead of Training Camp" . NBA.com . September 25, 2016. Retrieved September 25, 2016 .^ "Phoenix Suns Waive Three Players to Trim Preseason Roster" . NBA.com . October 10, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016 .^ "Northern Arizona Suns Set Training Camp Roster" . NBA.com . October 31, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2016 .^ "WILDCATS SIGN DEREK COOKE JUNIOR TO COMPLETE ROSTER" . Wildcats.com.au . July 27, 2017. Archived from the original on July 30, 2017. Retrieved July 27, 2017 .^ Withee, Jacob (October 21, 2018). "NAZ Suns Announce 2018-19 Training Camp Roster" . NBA.com . Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2018 . ^ "Raptors 905 Acquire Derek Cooke Jr" . NBA.com . January 15, 2019. Archived from the original on January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 15, 2019 .^ "Hamilton Honey Badger's head coach breaks down the CEBL draft" . CHCH . March 25, 2019. Retrieved April 29, 2019 .^ Lupo, Nicola (July 14, 2019). "Derek Cooke Jr. signs with Trieste" . Sportando . Retrieved August 23, 2019 . ^ "Honey Badgers Turn to NBA, Top International Experience in Quest to Take Next Step to CEBL Championship" . honeybadgers.ca. 24 July 2020.^ Lupo, Nicola (January 2, 2021). "Derek Cooke Jr. signs with Tsmoki-Minsk" . Sportando . Retrieved January 2, 2021 . ^ Carchia, Emiliano (July 30, 2021). "Brose Bamberg lands Derek Cooke jr" . Sportando . Retrieved August 2, 2021 . ^ Skerletic, Dario (October 25, 2021). "Hapoel Galil Gilboa reportedly close to sign Derek Cooke Jr" . Sportando . Retrieved November 18, 2021 . ^ Carchia, Emiliano (July 21, 2022). "Nutribullet Treviso adds Derek Cooke jr" . Sportando . Retrieved August 8, 2022 . ^ Maggi, Alessandro (February 28, 2023). "Derek Cooke leaves Treviso to sign with Skyliners" . Sportando . Retrieved February 28, 2023 . ^ "Ecco Derek Cooke Jr" . aquilabasket.it (in Italian). August 5, 2023. Retrieved August 12, 2023 .
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