JP Tokoto
February 2, 2021
Derek Cooke Jr
- Nationality: USA
- Date of Birth: 23/08/91
- Place of Birth: Washington, DC (USA)
- Position: F/C
- Height (CM): 206
- Weight (KG): 100
- Junior Assoc: None
- College: Cloud County CC (2011-2012) / Wyoming (2012-2015) /
- NBL DEBUT: 7/10/17
- AGE AT DEBUT: 26
- LAST NBL GAME: 9/03/18
- AGE AT LAST GAME: 26
- NBL History: Perth 2018
- Championships: 0
- None
BIO: Derek Cooke Jr was born in Washington, DC (USA).
NBL EXPERIENCE
Derek Cooke Jr made his NBL debut with the Perth Wildcats at 26 years of age. He went scoreless in his first NBL game.
The Wildcats were able to re-sign Grand Final MVP Bryce Cotton for the 2017/18 season but lost two-time Club MVP Casey Prather, who was unable to commit to the Wildcats season due to pursuing NBA opportunities. Perth would replace him with Devondrick Walker in the meantime, leaving Prather with no place on the roster after he had exhausted his NBA options. Unable to play with the Wildcats, he signed a contract to play with Melbourne.
In a bizarre twist, Devondrick Walker then suffered a foot injury during the pre-season and was replaced by JP Tokoto without having ever played a regular season game. Other changes to the roster included Derek Cooke Jr replacing Jameel McKay and Lucas Walker being elevated from a training player role to a full-time squad member to replace the retired Shawn Redhage.
Around this time, Matthew Knight (5.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.6 assists) made it public that he would retire at the end of the season, but as a result of three early-season head knocks, he chose to bring his retirement forward and retired in early November, playing in only five games.
In a bizarre twist, Devondrick Walker then suffered a foot injury during the pre-season and was replaced by JP Tokoto without having ever played a regular season game. Other changes to the roster included Derek Cooke Jr replacing Jameel McKay and Lucas Walker being elevated from a training player role to a full-time squad member to replace the retired Shawn Redhage.
Around this time, Matthew Knight (5.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.6 assists) made it public that he would retire at the end of the season, but as a result of three early-season head knocks, he chose to bring his retirement forward and retired in early November, playing in only five games.
The Wildcats started the season 10–3, as they sat atop the ladder following Round 9, but on 14 December 2017, Damian Martin (4.6 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists 1.5 steals) was ruled out for two games with an ankle injury.
Other injuries to Clint Steindl (2.8 points, 1.3 rebounds) and Greg Hire (2.1 points, 2 rebounds, and 0.6 assists) saw the team drop to 13–9 record in mid-January but as all three returned to the court, Perth finished the regular season of strong and secured third place on the ladder (16–12) by season’s end. Despite facing repeated criticism that the Wildcat’s should replace Cooke Jr (5.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 0.6 assists) due to his lack of production, he would remain with the team for the entire season.
On the eve of their finals campaign, Martin was named the league’s Best Defensive Player, earning the honour for a record-breaking sixth time. Tokoto (15.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists 1.7 steals) earned a spot on the All-NBL Second Team, and Cotton (19.8 points, 3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.3 steals) was selected to the All-NBL first team, as well as being named league MVP, becoming just the third Wildcat to win the award after Paul Rogers (2000) and Kevin Lisch (2012).
In game one of the semi finals series against second-seeded Adelaide 36ers, the Wildcats were soundly defeated (109–74) in what was their second biggest finals loss in club history. The only time the Wildcat’s have lost by a larger margin in their 32-year finals streak was in 1989, when they lost to North Melbourne by 55 points. Game two saw a much closer contents but Perth fell short by one point (88–89), ending this season prematurely.
Derek Cooke Jr played one season in the NBL. He averaged 5.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 0.5 assists in 29 NBL games.
NBL TOTAL STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | 26 | Perth | 16-12 (3) | 29 | 456.3 | 167 | 158 | 15 | 69 | 89 | 26 | 22 | 25 | 53 | 69 | 122 | 57% | 0 | 0 | 0% | 29 | 51 | 57% | 57% | 57% | 19 | Totals | 29 | 456 | 167 | 158 | 15 | 69 | 89 | 26 | 22 | 25 | 53 | 69 | 122 | 56.6% | 0 | 0 | 0.0% | 29 | 51 | 56.9% | 58% | 57% | 19 |
NBL PER GAME STATISTICS
| SEASON | AGE | TEAM | TEAM RECORD | GP | MINS | PTS | REB | AST | OR | DR | STL | BLK | TO | PF | FGM | FGA | FG% | 3PM | 3PA | 3P% | FTM | FTA | FT% | TS% | EFG% | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | 26 | Perth | 16-12 (3) | 29 | 15.7 | 5.8 | 5.4 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 4.2 | 57% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0% | 1.0 | 1.8 | 57% | 57% | 57% | 19 | Total | 29 | 15.7 | 5.8 | 5.4 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 4.2 | 56.6% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0% | 56.9% | 58% | 57% | 19 |
CAREER HIGHS
| POINTS | REBOUNDS | ASSISTS | STEALS | BLOCKS | TURNOVERS | TRIPLE DOUBLES | 19 | 15 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
|---|
COLLEGE
Derek Cooke Jr. began his college career at Cloud County Community College (2011–2012) before transferring to Wyoming (2012–2015), building his résumé through a junior-college breakout year and then three Division I seasons in the Mountain West.
At Cloud County CC, Cooke’s pathway included an earlier redshirt season before his 2011–12 on-court breakout, and that year he helped the Thunderbirds go 25–8 overall and 11–5 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while advancing to the NJCAA Division I Region VI Tournament semifinals.
In that 2011–12 season at Cloud County, he posted team-best marks in rebounds (8.4 per game) and blocks (1.7 per game), shot 55% from the floor, and added 6.0 points per game along with nearly one steal per contest, giving him the production base that led to his Wyoming move.
Cooke joined Wyoming in 2012–13 and immediately became a rotation big, playing all 34 games as the Cowboys’ first frontcourt option off the bench, averaging 3.1 points and 3.8 rebounds while adding 10 blocks and seven steals, and logging double-figure minutes in 22 games.
His sophomore season included several key statistical markers, including his first career start (at San Diego State on Feb. 19), his first career double-double (12 points, 13 rebounds at CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 6), and a career-high 15 points against UNLV on Feb. 23 in a career-high 28 minutes.
As a junior in 2013–14, Cooke moved into the starting lineup (32 starts in 33 games) and took a major step forward statistically, averaging 6.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.0 assist and 0.9 blocks in 22.6 minutes while shooting 62.9% from the field, which was noted as third in Wyoming single-season history.
That 2013–14 campaign featured a string of double-figure rebounding games, highlighted by 12 points and 11 rebounds against South Dakota on Nov. 22, plus a career-high 14 rebounds against South Dakota on Dec. 7 and a career-high four blocks against Fresno State on Feb. 18.
Cooke also delivered one of Wyoming’s signature highlight plays of the season when his one-handed alley-oop dunk (from Larry Nance Jr.) against No. 5 San Diego State on Feb. 11 was shown as ESPN SportsCenter’s No. 1 play that night.
As a senior in 2014–15, Cooke was one of five seniors who helped drive Wyoming to a Mountain West Tournament championship and the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2001–02, and he was the only Cowboy to start all 35 games while averaging 8.1 points, 5.8 rebounds, 0.9 blocks, 0.9 assists and 0.9 steals in 26.3 minutes.
He shot a team-best 72% from the field, ranked second on the team in rebounds (5.8 per game) and finished eighth in the Mountain West in rebounding, while also producing four double-doubles, 15 games in double-figure scoring, and six games with double-figure rebounds during the season.
Cooke’s top rebounding performance came at Fresno State on Jan. 17 when he posted 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, and he also matched his career-high scoring mark with 15 points twice during the season.
In the Mountain West title game, Cooke’s two free throws with seven seconds left sealed Wyoming’s tournament-clinching win, and he finished the season with 64 dunks to lead the Cowboys in finishes at the rim.
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