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Xavier Cooks

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Xavier Cooks
Cooks with the Washington Wizards in 2023
No. 10 – Sydney Kings
PositionPower forward
LeagueNBL
Personal information
Born (1995-08-19) 19 August 1995 (age 29)
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Listed height203 cm (6 ft 8 in)
Listed weight83 kg (183 lb)
Career information
High schoolHoly Spirit College
(Wollongong, New South Wales)
CollegeWinthrop (2014–2018)
NBA draft2018: undrafted
Playing career2013–present
Career history
2013Illawarra Hawks (Waratah)
2014BA Centre of Excellence
2018–2019s.Oliver Würzburg
2019–2023Sydney Kings
2022Wellington Saints
2023Washington Wizards
2023–2024Chiba Jets Funabashi
2024–presentSydney Kings
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Xavier Cooks (born 19 August 1995) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Winthrop Eagles, where he was named the 2018 Big South Conference Player of the Year. In 2022, he helped the Sydney Kings win the NBL championship while earning grand final MVP honours. In 2023, he was named NBL MVP and won his second straight NBL championship.

Early life

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Cooks was born in Ballarat, Victoria.[1] He grew up in Wollongong, New South Wales, and attended Holy Spirit College.[2][3]

In 2013, Cooks played for the Illawarra Hawks in the Waratah League.[4] The following year, he moved to Canberra and played for the BA Centre of Excellence in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL).[4]

College career

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Cooks moved to the United States in 2014 to play college basketball for the Winthrop Eagles. He chose Winthrop over offers from schools such as UC Santa Barbara, Boise State, Hartford, Maine, and Nicholls State.[5]

As a freshman in 2014–15, Cooks was named to the Big South Conference All-Freshman Team.[4] As a sophomore in 2015–16, he earned second-team All-Big South honours.[4]

As a junior in 2016–17, Cooks earned first-team All-Big South.[6] He helped Winthrop win the Big South Tournament and earned Big South All-Tournament Team.[4] On 15 February 2017, he recorded the first 20-point, 20-rebound game for Winthrop since 2003.[7]

As a senior in 2017–18, Cooks was again named first-team All-Big South and the Big South Player of the Year.[8] During the season, he became Winthrop's all-time leading rebounder.[9]

In 2020, Cooks was voted into the Big South Men's Basketball All-Decade Team (2010–19).[10]

Professional career

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s.Oliver Würzburg (2018–2019)

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Cooks with s.Oliver Würzburg in 2019

After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft, Cooks joined the Golden State Warriors for the 2018 NBA Summer League.[11] He played for s.Oliver Würzburg in Germany in 2018–19[12] and then joined the Phoenix Suns for the 2019 NBA Summer League.[11]

Cooks initially signed with French team SIG Strasbourg for the 2019–20 season,[13] but left due to injury.[14]

Sydney Kings (2019–2023)

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On 27 November 2019, Cooks signed with the Sydney Kings of the Australian NBL on a multi-year deal.[15] Following the 2019–20 season, Cooks opted out of his deal[16] and then re-signed with the Kings for the 2020–21 NBL season.[17] He averaged 10.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game in his second season with Sydney.[18]

On 30 June 2021, Cooks re-signed with the Kings for the 2021–22 NBL season.[19] He helped the Kings win the 2022 NBL championship while earning Grand Final MVP honours.[20]

On 18 May 2022, Cooks signed with the Wellington Saints for the rest of the 2022 New Zealand NBL season.[21] He went on to win league MVP, All-Star Five and Most Outstanding Forward.[22][23]

On 22 June 2022, Cooks re-signed with the Kings on a three-year deal.[24] On 29 January 2023, he had 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 111–106 win over the South East Melbourne Phoenix, marking the league's first triple-double since 2021 and the first from a Sydney player since Dontaye Draper in 2008.[25] He went on to win NBL MVP for the 2022–23 season[26] and helped the Kings win back-to-back championships.[27] He finished the season averaging 14.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.[28]

Washington Wizards (2023)

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On 17 March 2023, Cooks signed with the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA).[29] He made his NBA debut the next day, recording two rebounds in five and a half minutes against the Sacramento Kings.[30] In the Wizards' final game of the season on 9 April, he recorded 10 points and 14 rebounds in 35 minutes as a starter against the Houston Rockets.[31]

On 23 October 2023, Cooks was waived by the Wizards.[32]

Chiba Jets Funabashi (2023–2024)

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On 21 November 2023, Cooks signed with Chiba Jets Funabashi of the B.League.[33] The team won the EASL championship for the 2023–24 season.[34] He averaged over 13 points and eight rebounds in 52 appearances with the Jets.[35]

Return to Sydney (2024–present)

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On 27 May 2024, Cooks signed a three-year deal with the Sydney Kings.[35]

National team career

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In 2017, Cooks was named to the Australian "Emerging Boomers" squad for the Summer Universiade.[36]

In early August 2019, Cooks made the final cut for Australia's 2019 FIBA World Cup roster.[37] However, one week later he was forced to withdraw from the competition due to a knee injury sustained during practice.[38]

Career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

NBA

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2022–23 Washington 10 1 12.6 .607 .000 .400 3.8 .6 .6 .4 3.8
Career 10 1 12.6 .607 .000 .400 3.8 .6 .6 .4 3.8

Personal life

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Cooks is the son of Eric and Josie. His father is an African-American expatriate who became a naturalised citizen of Australia,[1] and his mother is Australian.[39] His father played college basketball for St. Mary's College in California before relocating to Australia to pursue a professional career.[40] He has two siblings, Georgia and Dominique. His brother was also a basketball player.[41]

References

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  1. ^ a b Evans, Kyle (4 June 2019). "Son of Ballarat Miners great Eric Cooks is taking after his father in a big way". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Sydney Sign Xavier Cooks on Multi-Year Deal". NBL.com.au. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  3. ^ Ward, Courtney (8 August 2019). "Xavier Cooks named in Australian Boomers squad for FIBA World Cup". South Coast Register. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Xavier Cooks". australiabasket.com. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  5. ^ Boyce, Dan (6 July 2014). "Xavier Cooks, the unknown second generation Aussie basketball star". aussiehoopla.com. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  6. ^ Wimberly, Nate (27 February 2017). "Keon Johnson named Big South Player of the Year". wbtv.com. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  7. ^ "Xavier Cooks has first 20/20 game for Winthrop since 2003". USA Today. 15 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  8. ^ "Big South Announces 2017-18 Men's Basketball Award Winners" (Press release). Big South Conference. 26 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
  9. ^ "Xavier Cooks became Winthrop's all-time leading rebounder as the Eagles dropped Radford". Miami Herald. 3 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Big South Announces 2010-19 Men's Basketball All-Decade Team". Big South Conference. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Xavier Cooks". realgm.com. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
  12. ^ "S.Oliver Wurzburg signs rookie Xavier Cooks to replace Mitch Creek". Sportando. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  13. ^ "Xavier Cooks s'ajoute au roster". SIG Strasbourg (in French). 25 July 2019.
  14. ^ "Xavier Cooks ne sera pas Strasbourgeois". SIG Strasbourg (in French). 27 November 2019.
  15. ^ "Sydney Sign Xavier Cooks on Multi-Year Deal". nbl.com.au. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Xavier Cooks opts out of deal with Sydney Kings". Sportando. 2 May 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  17. ^ "Xavier Cooks returns for NBL21". sydneykings.com. 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  18. ^ Uluc, Olgun (26 June 2021). "NBL Free Agency: who's on the move". ESPN. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Sydney Re-Sign Xavier Cooks". NBL.com.au. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Kings Win First Championship in 17 Years with Record Crowd". NBL.com.au. 11 May 2022. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  21. ^ Hinton, Marc (18 May 2022). "Saints signing coup: Kiwi NBL champs snap up Australian finals MVP Xavier Cooks". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
  22. ^ "2022 SAL'S NBL AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED". nznbl.basketball. 9 August 2022. Archived from the original on 9 August 2022.
  23. ^ Egan, Brendon (9 August 2022). "Wellington Saints' star Xavier Cooks earns NBL MVP honours". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 9 August 2022.
  24. ^ "Xavier Cooks back for another three years". sydneykings.com. 22 June 2022. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  25. ^ "Kings Beat Phoenix to Secure Regular Season Crown". NBL.com.au. 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  26. ^ "Xavier Cooks Wins MVP Honours". NBL.com.au. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  27. ^ "Kings' Big Finish to Secure Back-to-Back Championships". NBL.com.au. 15 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  28. ^ "Cooks Officially Signs NBA Contract". NBL.com.au. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  29. ^ "Wizards Sign Xavier Cooks to Multi-Year Deal". NBA.com. 17 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  30. ^ "Cooks Logs Minutes in NBA Debut". NBL.com.au. 19 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  31. ^ "Cooks Doubles Down". NBL.com.au. 10 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  32. ^ "Wizards Announce 2023-24 Opening Night Roster". NBA.com. 23 October 2023. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  33. ^ "2023-24シーズン 新規契約選手のお知らせ". ChibaJets.jp (in Japanese). 21 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  34. ^ Odeven, Ed (11 March 2024). "Chiba Jets Complete Perfect Run to East Asia Super League Title". japan-forward.com. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  35. ^ a b "Kingdom welcomes former MVP's return". NBL.com.au. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  36. ^ Barrow, Tim (22 June 2017). "Cooks has booming career". Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  37. ^ ""I earned my spot" Xavier Cooks on his shock Boomers call-up". smh.com.au.
  38. ^ "MITCH CREEK REPLACES XAVIER COOKS IN BOOMERS FIBA WORLD CUP TEAM". australia.basketball.
  39. ^ Glauber, Bill (24 February 2018). "Australian mom wouldn't miss Xavier Cooks' Winthrop Senior Day game". The Herald. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  40. ^ Glauber, Bill (16 May 2017). "For Winthrop parents, a long basketball journey from Australia to Milwaukee". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  41. ^ Keeble, Tim (11 September 2014). "Dominique Cooks re-signs with Hawks". Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 5 January 2020.
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