Devontae Calvin Cacok ( ; born October 8, 1996) 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 who last played for

Virtus Bologna Virtus Pallacanestro Bologna, known for sponsorship reasons as Virtus Segafredo Bologna, is an Italian professional basketball club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The club was founded in 1929, which makes it the oldest club in Italy and one ...

of the Italian

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) and the

EuroLeague The EuroLeague is a European men's professional basketball club competition. The league is widely recognised as the top-tier and the most prestigious men's basketball league in Europe. The league consists of 20 teams, of which 16 are given lon ...

. He played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

UNC Wilmington Seahawks The UNC Wilmington (UNCW) Seahawks are the varsity athletic teams representing the University of North Carolina Wilmington in Wilmington, North Carolina in intercollegiate athletics. The university sponsors eight teams for the men (baseball, bas ...

, where in the 2017–18 season he led the nation in rebounding.

Early life

Cacok was born in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

to a Haitian-American father Harry Cacok and Rose Lewis, and grew up in Riverdale, Georgia, playing football as a youth, mainly on the offensive line. He first began playing basketball in eight grade after he fractured his wrist, ending his football season. Cacok admits being terrible at first, but joined his high school varsity team after a seven-inch growth spurt as a sophomore. As a senior at

Alpharetta High School Alpharetta High School is a public high school located in Alpharetta, Georgia, Alpharetta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States within the Fulton County School System. ''Atlanta Magazine'' named Alpharetta High School one of the metro A ...

, he averaged 22 points and 12 rebounds per game and led the team to a regional title.

College career

As a freshman at UNC Wilmington, Cacok came off the bench to average 3.3 points per game. Cacok averaged 12.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore and led the nation in field goal percentage (80.0%). He accomplished this extremely high percentage, the highest ever, by mainly shooting within a range of about two feet from the basket and only taking one jump shot all year on the 29–6 Seahawks team. He had 40 blocks and tied for the league lead with 11 double-doubles. He was named CAA Defensive Player of the Year and was selected to the Third Team All-CAA. After the season, UNC Wilmington lost four starters and coach Kevin Keatts; new coach C. B. McGrath looked to expand his overall game. In an 87–63 win against Elon in February 2018, Cacok posted 17 points and 21 rebounds. The following matchup, an 88–64 loss to

College of Charleston The College of Charleston (CofC or Charleston) is a public university in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, it is the oldest university in South Carolina, the 13th-oldest institution of higher lea ...

, he had 29 points and 17 rebounds. These two performances earned him CBS Sports Player of the Week honors. As a junior, Cacok led Division I in rebounding with 13.5 per game. He finished eighth in the CAA in scoring with 17.8 points per game and third in field goal percentage with 58.8%. Cacok led the conference with 22 double-doubles, second-most of any player in the country. He was named to the First Team All-CAA. The North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association named Cacok to the First Team All-State. Coming into his senior season, Cacok was named to the Preseason First Team All-CAA. As a senior, Cacok averaged 15.2 points and 12.3 rebounds per game and led the nation in double-doubles with 22. He was again selected to the First Team All-CAA.

Professional career

Los Angeles Lakers (2019–2021)

After going undrafted in the

2019 NBA draft The 2019 NBA draft was held on June 20, 2019. It took place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur United States college basketball players and other eligible p ...

, Cacok signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

to play in the 2019 NBA Summer League. On October 21, 2019, Cacok was waived by the Lakers. He was then added to the roster of the

South Bay Lakers The South Bay Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, that competes in the NBA G League. Founded in 2006 as the Los Angeles D-Fenders, the team is owned by the Los Angeles Lakers, who were the first ...

of the

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

. On December 11, 2019, Cacok signed a

two-way contract A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless o ...

with the

, where he would split time between South Bay and LA. On December 28, 2019, Cacok grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds to go along with 22 points in a 124–120 win over 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 ...

. He suffered a stress reaction in his foot on January 13, sidelining him for several weeks. Cacok returned to action on February 1, contributing 13 points and seven rebounds in a win over the

Rio Grande Valley Vipers The Rio Grande Valley Vipers are an American professional basketball team of the NBA G League based in Edinburg, Texas, and are affiliated with the Houston Rockets. The Vipers play their home games at the Bert Ogden Arena. The Vipers have won f ...

. At the close of the season, Cacok was named to the All-NBA G League First Team after averaging 19.4 points, 11.4 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. He was also named to the League's All-Rookie Team. On August 13, he made his NBA debut for the Lakers, scoring six points on 3-of-6 shooting and grabbing five rebounds in a 136–122 loss to the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

. On September 20, 2021, Cacok signed with the

Brooklyn Nets The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), ...

. He was waived at the end of training camp on October 16.

San Antonio Spurs (2021–2022)

On October 18, the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

claimed Cacok off waivers and converted his deal into a

with the

Austin Spurs The Austin Spurs are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Cedar Park, Texas, and are affiliated with the San Antonio Spurs. The team plays their home games at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The team has made the po ...

. On March 4, 2022, the

converted Cacok's contract into a standard deal.

Motor City Cruise (2022–2023)

On September 7, 2022, the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

announced that they had signed Cacok. He was waived on October 7. On November 3, 2022, Cacok was named to the opening night roster for the

Motor City Cruise 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 Lon ...

CSKA Moscow (2023)

On February 11, 2023, Cacok signed with

CSKA Moscow CSKA Moscow () is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet Union, Soviet era, it was the central part of the Armed Forces (sports ...

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 ...

Virtus Bologna (2023–2024)

On July 10, 2023, Cacok signed a two-year deal with Virtus Segafredo Bologna of the

(LBA) and the

. On September 24, 2023, after having ousted

Olimpia Milano Pallacanestro Olimpia Milano, commonly known as Olimpia Milano or as EA7 Emporio Armani Milan after its title sponsor, is an LBA Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy. Its colors are white and red, and the team is sometimes ...

in the semifinals, Virtus won its fourth Supercup, and the third in a row, defeating 97–60 Germani Brescia. On November 14, 2024, Cacok was released from the Italian club.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , style="text-align:left; background:#afe6ba;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 1 , , 0 , , 9.0 , , .500 , , , , , , 5.0 , , 1.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", L.A. Lakers , 20 , , 1 , , 4.0 , , .586 , , , , .455 , , 1.6 , , .1 , , .3 , , .2 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

, 15 , , 0 , , 8.1 , , .677 , , , , .571 , , 2.8 , , .4 , , .5 , , .5 , , 3.1 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 36 , , 1 , , 6.3 , , .621 , , , , .500 , , 2.2 , , .2 , , .4 , , .3 , , 2.5

EuroLeague

, - , style="text-align:left;", 2023–24 , style="text-align:left;",

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, 15 , , 1 , , 9.1 , , .714 , , , , .667 , , 2.3 , , .5 , , .3 , , .1 , , 3.2 , , 4.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 15 , , 1 , , 9.1 , , .714 , , , , .667 , , 2.3 , , .5 , , .3 , , .1 , , 3.2 , , 4.0

References

External links

UNC Wilmington Seahawks bio

– college basketball player statistics at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cacok, Devontae 1996 births Living people 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen American men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Russia Austin Spurs players Centers (basketball) Los Angeles Lakers players Motor City Cruise players Sportspeople from Alpharetta, Georgia Basketball players from Fulton County, Georgia San Antonio Spurs players South Bay Lakers players UNC Wilmington Seahawks men's basketball players Undrafted NBA players Virtus Bologna players