Xavier Cooks (born 19 August 1995) is an Australian professional basketball player for the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League (NBL). He played college basketball for the Winthrop Eagles, where he was named the 2018 Big South Conference Player of the Year. In 2022, he helped the Sydney Kings win the NBL championship while earning grand final MVP honours. In 2023, he was named NBL MVP and won his second straight NBL championship.
Early life
Cooks was born in
Ballarat, Victoria.
He grew up in Wollongong, New South Wales, and attended Holy Spirit College.
In 2013, Cooks played for the Illawarra Hawks in the Waratah League.
College career
Cooks moved to the United States in 2014 to play college basketball for the Winthrop Eagles. He chose Winthrop over offers from schools such as UC Santa Barbara, Boise State, Hartford, Maine, and Nicholls State.
As a freshman in 2014–15, Cooks was named to the Big South Conference All-Freshman Team.
As a junior in 2016–17, Cooks earned first-team All-Big South.
As a senior in 2017–18, Cooks was again named first-team All-Big South and the Big South Player of the Year.
In 2020, Cooks was voted into the Big South Men's Basketball All-Decade Team (2010–19).
Professional career
s.Oliver Würzburg (2018–2019)
After going undrafted in the 2018 NBA draft, Cooks joined the Golden State Warriors for the 2018 NBA Summer League.
He played for s.Oliver Würzburg in Germany in 2018–19
and then joined the
Phoenix Suns for the 2019 NBA Summer League.
Cooks initially signed with French team SIG Basket for the 2019–20 season,
Sydney Kings (2019–2023)
On 27 November 2019, Cooks signed with the
Sydney Kings of the Australian NBL on a multi-year deal.
Following the 2019–20 season, Cooks opted out of his deal
and then re-signed with the Kings for the 2020–21 NBL season.
He averaged 10.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game in his second season with Sydney.
On 30 June 2021, Cooks re-signed with the Kings for the 2021–22 NBL season.
On 18 May 2022, Cooks signed with the Wellington Saints for the rest of the 2022 New Zealand NBL season.
On 22 June 2022, Cooks re-signed with the Kings on a three-year deal.
Washington Wizards (2023)
On 17 March 2023, Cooks signed with the Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
He made his NBA debut the next day, recording two rebounds in five and a half minutes against the
Sacramento Kings.
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 the
Houston Rockets.
On 23 October 2023, Cooks was waived by the Wizards.
Chiba Jets Funabashi (2023–2024)
On 21 November 2023, Cooks signed with
Chiba Jets of the B.League.
The team won the EASL championship for the 2023–24 season.
He averaged over 13 points and eight rebounds in 52 appearances with the Jets.
Return to Sydney (2024–present)
On 27 May 2024, Cooks signed a three-year deal with the Sydney Kings.
He was named to the
All-NBL Team for the 2024–25 season.
On 11 February 2025, the NBL announced a mandatory provisional one-month suspension had been imposed on Cooks due to an adverse analytical finding from a standard in-competition anti-doping test.
He missed the Kings' knock-out final against the Adelaide 36ers.
The suspension ended on 7 March 2025 with no further recourse.
National team career
In 2017, Cooks was named to the Australian "Emerging Boomers" squad for the Summer Universiade.
In early August 2019, Cooks made the final cut for Australia's 2019 FIBA World Cup roster.
In April 2025, Cooks was named in the Boomers squad for a trans-Tasman series against New Zealand in May.
Career statistics
NBA
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|
| style="text-align:left;"| Washington
| 10 || 1 || 12.6 || .607 || .000 || .400 || 3.8 || .6 || .6 || .4 || 3.8
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career
| 10 || 1 || 12.6 || .607 || .000 || .400 || 3.8 || .6 || .6 || .4 || 3.8
Personal life
Cooks is the son of Eric and Josie. His father is an
African-American expatriate who became a naturalised citizen of Australia,
and his mother is Australian.
His father played college basketball for St. Mary's College in
California before relocating to Australia to pursue a professional career.
He has two siblings, Georgia and Dominique. His brother was also a basketball player.
External links
