Derek Cooke

Derek Cooke Jr. (born August 23, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for the Northern Arizona Suns of the NBA Development League. He played three years of Division I college basketball for Wyoming.

Cooke attended Friendly High School in Fort Washington, Maryland, where he was a wide receiver on the football team and did not play basketball. An NCAA qualifier after graduating, he decided to take a year off from school and hit a growth spurt, before enrolling at Cloud County Community College to play basketball.

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 Wyoming. 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.

On June 25, 2015, Cooke signed with the Rethymno Cretan Kings of the Greek Basket League. However, he parted ways with the club in late October after appearing in just three games. On November 2, 2015, he was acquired by the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League. On November 13, he made his debut for the Jam in a 104–87 loss to the Santa Cruz Warriors, recording four points, three rebounds and one steal in 29 minutes.

In July 2016, Cooke joined the Phoenix Suns for the 2016 NBA Summer League. On September 25, 2016, he signed with the Suns, but was waived on October 10. On October 31, he was acquired by the Northern Arizona Suns as an affiliate player of Phoenix.

The son of Derek Sr. and stepson of Tyrone and Debbie Slade, Cooke majored in sociology.