Rebecca Joy Cole (born 19 March 1992)[1] is an Australian professional basketball player for the Waverley Falcons of the NBL1 South. She is a two-time champion with the Southside Flyers of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) and has been a member of the Australian Opals.
| No. 2 – Waverley Falcons | |
|---|---|
| Position | Shooting guard |
| League | NBL1 South |
| Personal information | |
| Born | 19 March 1992 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia |
| Listed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Career information | |
| Playing career | 2009–present |
| Career history | |
| 2009–2012 | Australian Institute of Sport |
| 2012–2018 | Bulleen/Melbourne Boomers |
| 2015–2016 | Nunawading Spectres |
| 2017 | Eltham Wildcats |
| 2018 | Melbourne Tigers |
| 2018–2024 | Dandenong Rangers / Southside Flyers |
| 2019 | Dandenong Rangers (NBL1) |
| 2021 | Bulleen Boomers (Big V) |
| 2022–present | Waverley Falcons |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Early life
editCole was born in Melbourne, Victoria, in the suburb of Mount Waverley.[2]
Professional career
editWNBL
editCole made her debut in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in the 2009–10 season at 16 years old.[3] After three seasons with the AIS, she joined the Bulleen Boomers. She played for the Bulleen/Melbourne Boomers every year between 2012 and 2018.[4] She was a member of the Boomers' grand final team in 2017–18.[5]
For the 2018–19 season, Cole joined the Dandenong Rangers.[4] She was named to the 2018–19 WNBL All-Star Five and was named the Rangers Club MVP.[3][6][7] For the 2019–20 season, the Rangers rebranded as the Southside Flyers. Cole continued with the Flyers in 2019–20 and the 2020 WNBL Hub season in Queensland,[8] helping the team win the Hub championship. They finished runners-up in 2022–23[9] and won the WNBL championship in 2023–24.[10]
State Leagues
editIn 2015 and 2016, Cole played for the Nunawading Spectres in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL). She played for the Eltham Wildcats in the Big V in 2017 and the Melbourne Tigers in the SEABL in 2018.[4]
In 2019, Cole joined the Dandenong Rangers for the inaugural NBL1 season.[4] In 2021, she played for the Bulleen Boomers in the Big V. She joined the Waverley Falcons of the NBL1 South in 2022[4] and in 2024 helped the team win the NBL1 South championship.[11][12] She went on to lead the Falcons to the NBL1 National championship at the 2024 NBL1 National Finals while earning MVP of the championship game.[13][14][15] She was also named to the NBL1 National Finals All-Star Five.[16]
National team career
edit5x5
editCole made her international debut with the Under-19 program in 2011. Cole was chosen as captain for the Australian Gems (Australia's Under 19 Women's Team) at the FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Chile, where Australia narrowly missed out on bronze, placing fourth. Cole played all eight games.[3]
In January 2019 it was announced that Cole was part of the 2019 Opals squad.[17][18][19] FIBA named Cole one of the "10 Women Who Defined 3x3 in 2019".[20]
3x3
editCole was a member of both the 2018 and 2019 Australian teams in the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup.[21] In 2018, Australia won bronze and in 2019 Australia went undefeated winning the gold medal, with Cole being named the MVP of the 2019 tournament.[22]
Personal life
editCole is the daughter of Gary and Ros Cole and has two older sisters, Jessica and Emma.[23]
As of 2022[update], Cole is the Ambassador for Lymphoma Australia.[24]
References
edit- ^ "Rebecca Joy Cole". FIBA. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^ "Rebecca Cole". FIBA. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^ a b c "Bec Cole's meteoric rise to be named in the 2018/19 WNBL All-Star Five in her first season with the Jayco Rangers". 28 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Rebecca Cole". australiabasket.com. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^ Johnpapadimitriou (10 November 2020). "WBNL Basketall: Southside Flyers: Know Your Flyers: Bec Cole". wnbl.basketball/southside.
- ^ "2018/19 Chemist Warehouse WNBL award winners announced". WNBL. 18 February 2019.
- ^ "WNBL MVP 2018/19 votes and awards: Kelsey Griffin named MVP". 18 February 2019.
- ^ Katelentini (5 November 2020). "The WNBL season is an opportunity for Rebecca Cole". wnbl.basketball.
- ^ "2023–24 Media Guide" (PDF). wnbl.basketball. p. 62. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
- ^ "WNBL24 SOUTHSIDE FLYERS CYGNETT WNBL CHAMPIONS". wnbl.basketball. 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ Pike, Chris (10 August 2024). "Recap NBL1 South | Women's Grand Final". NBL1.com.au. Archived from the original on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "Waverley Falcons win the 2024 NBL1 South women's championship". NBL1.com.au. 10 August 2024. Archived from the original on 11 August 2024. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
- ^ "Recap NBL1 National Finals | Women's Championship Game". NBL1.com.au. 18 August 2024. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024.
- ^ "Bec Cole is the Mitsubishi Motors NBL1 Finals MVP". facebook.com/NBL1. 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^ Badkin, Liam (20 August 2024). "Cole shows class as Falcons crush Braves in title game". central.rookieme.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2024.
- ^ "Our Mitsubishi Motors NBL1 National Finals women's All-Star Five". facebook.com/NBL1. 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
- ^ "Press Release: 2019 Chemist Warehouse Australian Opals Squad Announced". Basketball Australia. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- ^ Roy Ward (10 January 2019). "Opals Name Squad For Crucial Olympic Qualifiers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
- ^ "Australian Women's Squad announced for FIBA's 3x3 Olympic qualifying tournament".
- ^ "FIBA names Bec Cole as one of '10 women who defined 3x3 in 2019'".
- ^ "Fiba 3x3 Bec Cole".
- ^ "Fiba 3x3 Aisa Cup 2018".
- ^ "'Life isn't fair': The beautiful bond – and remarkable resilience – between Bec and Gary Cole". foxsports.com.au. 23 November 2019.
- ^ "Ambassador Rebecca Cole". Lymphoma Australia. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
