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Xavier Cooks

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Xavier Cooks
Cooks with theWashington Wizardsin 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
Statsat NBA.comEdit this at Wikidata
Statsat Basketball ReferenceEdit this at Wikidata

Xavier Cooks(born 19 August 1995) is an Australian professionalbasketballplayer for theSydney Kingsof theNational Basketball League(NBL). He playedcollege basketballfor theWinthrop Eagles,where he was named the 2018Big South Conference Player of the Year.In 2022, he helped the Sydney Kings win theNBL championshipwhile earninggrand final MVPhonours. In 2023, he was namedNBL MVPand won his second straight NBL championship.

Early life

[edit]

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

In 2013, Cooks played for theIllawarra Hawksin theWaratah League.[4]The following year, he moved toCanberraand played for theBA Centre of Excellencein theSouth East Australian Basketball League(SEABL).[4]

College career

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Cooks moved to the United States in 2014 to playcollege basketballfor theWinthrop Eagles.He chose Winthrop over offers from schools such asUC Santa Barbara,Boise State,Hartford,Maine,andNicholls State.[5]

As a freshman in 2014–15, Cooks was named to theBig South ConferenceAll-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 theBig South Tournamentand 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 theBig 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 withs.Oliver Würzburgin 2019

After going undrafted in the2018 NBA draft,Cooks joined theGolden State Warriorsfor the2018 NBA Summer League.[11]He played fors.Oliver Würzburgin Germany in 2018–19[12]and then joined thePhoenix Sunsfor the2019 NBA Summer League.[11]

Cooks initially signed with French teamSIG Strasbourgfor 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 theSydney Kingsof the AustralianNBLon a multi-year deal.[15]Following the2019–20 season,Cooks opted out of his deal[16]and then re-signed with the Kings for the2020–21 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 the2021–22 NBL season.[19]He helped the Kings win the 2022NBL championshipwhile earningGrand Final MVPhonours.[20]

On 18 May 2022, Cooks signed with theWellington Saintsfor the rest of the2022 New Zealand NBL season.[21]He went on to winleague MVP,All-Star FiveandMost 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 theSouth East Melbourne Phoenix,marking the league's firsttriple-doublesince 2021 and the first from a Sydney player sinceDontaye Draperin 2008.[25]He went on to winNBL MVPfor the2022–23 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 theWashington Wizardsof theNational Basketball Association(NBA).[29]He made his NBA debut the next day, recording two rebounds in five and a half minutes against theSacramento 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 theHouston 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 withChiba Jets Funabashiof theB.League.[33]The team won theEASLchampionship for the2023–24 season.[34]He averaged over 13 points and eight rebounds in 52 appearances with the Jets.[35]

Return to Sydney (2024–present)

[edit]

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 theSummer Universiade.[36]

In early August 2019, Cooks made the final cut forAustralia's2019 FIBA World Cuproster.[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 goalpercentage 3P% 3-point field goalpercentage FT% Free throwpercentage
RPG Reboundsper game APG Assistsper game SPG Stealsper game
BPG Blocksper 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

[edit]

Cooks is the son of Eric and Josie. His father is anAfrican-Americanexpatriate who became a naturalised citizen of Australia,[1]and his mother is Australian.[39]His father played college basketball forSt. Mary's CollegeinCaliforniabefore 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. ^abEvans, Kyle (4 June 2019)."Son of Ballarat Miners great Eric Cooks is taking after his father in a big way".Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Retrieved17 January2020.
  2. ^"Sydney Sign Xavier Cooks on Multi-Year Deal".NBL.com.au.29 November 2019.Retrieved27 November2019.
  3. ^Ward, Courtney (8 August 2019)."Xavier Cooks named in Australian Boomers squad for FIBA World Cup".South Coast Register.Retrieved17 November2020.
  4. ^abcde"Xavier Cooks".australiabasket.com.Retrieved7 February2023.
  5. ^Boyce, Dan (6 July 2014)."Xavier Cooks, the unknown second generation Aussie basketball star".aussiehoopla.com.Retrieved27 February2018.
  6. ^Wimberly, Nate (27 February 2017)."Keon Johnson named Big South Player of the Year".wbtv.com.Retrieved27 February2018.
  7. ^"Xavier Cooks has first 20/20 game for Winthrop since 2003".USA Today.15 February 2018.Retrieved27 February2018.
  8. ^"Big South Announces 2017-18 Men's Basketball Award Winners"(Press release). Big South Conference. 26 February 2018.Retrieved26 February2018.
  9. ^"Xavier Cooks became Winthrop's all-time leading rebounder as the Eagles dropped Radford".Miami Herald.3 February 2018.Retrieved27 February2018.
  10. ^"Big South Announces 2010-19 Men's Basketball All-Decade Team".Big South Conference.Retrieved16 June2020.
  11. ^ab"Xavier Cooks".realgm.com.Retrieved7 March2023.
  12. ^"S.Oliver Wurzburg signs rookie Xavier Cooks to replace Mitch Creek".Sportando.27 July 2018.Retrieved27 July2018.
  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.Retrieved27 November2019.
  16. ^"Xavier Cooks opts out of deal with Sydney Kings".Sportando.2 May 2020.Retrieved8 May2020.
  17. ^"Xavier Cooks returns for NBL21".sydneykings.com.7 July 2020.Retrieved7 July2020.
  18. ^Uluc, Olgun (26 June 2021)."NBL Free Agency: who's on the move".ESPN.Retrieved29 June2021.
  19. ^"Sydney Re-Sign Xavier Cooks".NBL.com.au.30 June 2021.Retrieved30 June2021.
  20. ^"Kings Win First Championship in 17 Years with Record Crowd".NBL.com.au.11 May 2022.Retrieved11 May2022.
  21. ^Hinton, Marc (18 May 2022)."Saints signing coup: Kiwi NBL champs snap up Australian finals MVP Xavier Cooks".stuff.co.nz.Retrieved18 May2022.
  22. ^"2022 SAL'S NBL AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED".nznbl.basketball.9 August 2022.Archivedfrom the original on 9 August 2022.
  23. ^Egan, Brendon (9 August 2022)."Wellington Saints' star Xavier Cooks earns NBL MVP honours".Stuff.co.nz.Archivedfrom the original on 9 August 2022.
  24. ^"Xavier Cooks back for another three years".sydneykings.com.22 June 2022.Retrieved29 January2023.
  25. ^"Kings Beat Phoenix to Secure Regular Season Crown".NBL.com.au.29 January 2023.Retrieved29 January2023.
  26. ^"Xavier Cooks Wins MVP Honours".NBL.com.au.7 February 2023.Retrieved7 February2023.
  27. ^"Kings' Big Finish to Secure Back-to-Back Championships".NBL.com.au.15 March 2023.Retrieved18 March2023.
  28. ^"Cooks Officially Signs NBA Contract".NBL.com.au.18 March 2023.Retrieved18 March2023.
  29. ^"Wizards Sign Xavier Cooks to Multi-Year Deal".NBA.com.17 March 2023.Retrieved17 March2023.
  30. ^"Cooks Logs Minutes in NBA Debut".NBL.com.au.19 March 2023.Retrieved19 March2023.
  31. ^"Cooks Doubles Down".NBL.com.au.10 April 2023.Retrieved10 April2023.
  32. ^"Wizards Announce 2023-24 Opening Night Roster".NBA.com.23 October 2023.Retrieved24 October2023.
  33. ^"2023-24シーズン tân quy khế ước tuyển thủ のお tri らせ".ChibaJets.jp(in Japanese). 21 November 2023.Retrieved24 November2023.
  34. ^Odeven, Ed (11 March 2024)."Chiba Jets Complete Perfect Run to East Asia Super League Title".japan-forward.com.Retrieved20 March2024.
  35. ^ab"Kingdom welcomes former MVP's return".NBL.com.au.27 May 2024.Retrieved27 May2024.
  36. ^Barrow, Tim (22 June 2017)."Cooks has booming career".Illawarra Mercury.Retrieved27 February2018.
  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.Retrieved6 March2020.
  40. ^Glauber, Bill (16 May 2017)."For Winthrop parents, a long basketball journey from Australia to Milwaukee".Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Retrieved12 February2020.
  41. ^Keeble, Tim (11 September 2014)."Dominique Cooks re-signs with Hawks".Illawarra Mercury.Retrieved5 January2020.
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