Derek Vincent 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Pistoia Basket 2000 A.S. Pistoia Basket 2000, known for sponsorship reasons as Giorgio Tesi Group Pistoia, is an Italian professional basketball team based in Pistoia, Tuscany. History The city of Pistoia was formerly represented in the first division Lega Basket Ser ...

of the

Lega Basket Serie A The Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) is a professional men's club (sport), club basketball list of basketball leagues, league that has been organised in Italy since 1920. Serie A is organised by Lega Basket, which is regulated by the Italian Basketball ...

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

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

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 downtown Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 census, it had a popul ...

, where he was a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

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-Seni ...

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 The 2015 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2015, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It was televised nationally in the U.S. by ESPN. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eli ...

, on June 25, 2015, Cooke signed with the Rethymno Cretan Kings of the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basketball League (GBL), and also known as the Stoiximan Greek Basketball League (GBL) for sponsorship reasons, is the Greek basketball league system, first tier level professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by the ...

. 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 and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

of the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

. In July 2016, Cooke joined the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Suns compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA), We ...

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, and are affiliated with the Detroit Pistons. The Cruise play their home games at Wayne State Fieldhouse. The franchise began play as the Long ...

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 pos ...

. 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, and are affiliated with the Toronto Raptors. Raptors 905 began play in the 2015–16 season and play their home games at Paramount Fine Foods ...

acquired Cooke from the

for Khadeem Lattin and the returning rights to

Yanick Moreira Yanick Pires Moreira (born July 31, 1991) is an Angolan professional basketball player who plays for Petro de Luanda of the Angolan Basketball League and the Basketball Africa League (BAL). He played two seasons of college basketball for the SM ...

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 ...

, Cooke was drafted into the startup

Canadian Elite Basketball League The Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL; ) is the premier men's professional basketball league in Canada, as recognized by Canada Basketball. The CEBL was founded in 2017 and began play in 2019 with six teams all owned and operated by owner ...

Hamilton Honey Badgers The Brampton Honey Badgers are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Brampton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Elite Basketball League. They play their games at the CAA Centre. The team was founded in 2018 as the Hamilton Honey ...

, where he would reunite with former Raptors 905 teammates,

MiKyle McIntosh MiKyle Mervyn McIntosh (born July 19, 1994) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Vancouver Bandits of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. He played college basketball for the Illinois State Redbirds men's basketball, Illinois Sta ...

and

Duane Notice Duane Notice (born September 7, 1994) is a Canadian basketball player for the Vancouver Bandits of the CEBL. He played college basketball for the University of South Carolina where he is the all-time leader in games played. He won the SEC Sixth M ...

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 played in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) for five seasons (2018–19 LBA season, 2018–19 to 2022–23 LBA season, 2022–23 season); after winning playof ...

of the

(LBA).

Canadian Elite Basketball League (2020)

In July 2020, Cooke joined the

for the 2020 CEBL season.

Tsmoki-Minsk (2021)

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

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

Brose Bamberg (2021)

On July 30, 2021, he signed with

Brose Bamberg Bamberg Baskets 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 six times. The club currently plays in the German top tier Basketball ...

of the

Basketball Bundesliga The Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) (English language: ''Federal Basketball League''), for sponsorship reasons named easyCredit BBL, is the German basketball league system, highest level Sports league, league of professional club basketball in German ...

(BBL).

Hapoel Gilboa Galil (2021–2022)

On October 25, 2021, he signed with

Hapoel Gilboa Galil Hapoel Gilboa Galil () 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-seat arena in Gan Ner. History T ...

of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

Treviso Basket (2022–2023)

On July 21, 2022, he has signed with

Treviso Basket Universo Treviso Basket (diminutive TvB), known for sponsorship reasons as NutriBullet Treviso, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Treviso, Veneto. Founded in 2012, it plays in the Italian basketball first division Lega Basket Se ...

of the

(LBA).

Skyliners Frankfurt (2023)

On February 28, 2023, he signed with

Skyliners Frankfurt The Skyliners Frankfurt, formerly known as Fraport Skyliners for sponsorship reasons, are a professional basketball club based in Frankfurt, Germany. Their home arena is Ballsporthalle. The club has played in the Basketball Bundesliga since 19 ...

of the

Aquila Basket Trento (2023–2024)

On August 5, 2023, he signed with

Dolomiti Energia Trento Aquila Basket Trento, also known for sponsorship reasons as Dolomiti Energia Trento, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Trent, Trentino. It was founded in 1995 as an amalgamation of two local clubs, going from the amateur divisi ...

of the Italian

(LBA).

Força Lleida (2024)

On September 12, 2024, Cooke signed with the Força Lleida 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. Administered by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, w ...

. On December 9, 2024, his contract was terminated.

Pistoia Basket 2000 (2025–present)

On January 1, 2025, Cooke signed with the

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 21st-century American sportsmen 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 expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Bakersfield Jam players Basketball players from Washington, D.C. BC Tsmoki-Minsk players Bamberg Baskets players Centers (basketball) Cloud County Community College alumni Força Lleida CE players Hapoel Gilboa Galil players Junior college men's basketball players in the United States Lega Basket Serie A players Liga ACB players Northern Arizona Suns players Pallacanestro Trieste players Perth Wildcats players Pistoia Basket 2000 players Power forwards Raptors 905 players Rethymno B.C. players Universo Treviso Basket players Wyoming Cowboys basketball players