Rebecca Cole (basketball)

Rebecca "Bec" Cole (born 19 March 1992) is an Australian professional basketball player. As of April 2022 Cole is a starting shooting guard for the Southside Flyers in the WNBL, and has been a member of both the Australian 3x3 national team and the Australian Opals.

Rebecca Cole
No. 1 – Southside Flyers
PositionShooting guard
Personal information
Born (1992-03-19) 19 March 1992
Mount Waverley, Victoria
NationalityAustralian
Listed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Career information
High schoolCaulfield Grammar
Playing career2009–present
Career history
2009–2012Australian Institute of Sport
2012–2013Bulleen Boomers
2013–2018Melbourne Boomers
2018–2019Dandenong Rangers
2019–presentSouthside Flyers
Medals
Representing  Australia
Basketball

Early life

Cole was born on 19 March 1992[1] in Mount Waverley, Victoria. She is the daughter of Gary and Ros Cole and has two older sisters, Jessica and Emma.[2]

Cole began her career playing for the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) at the age of 16.[3]

Professional career

WNBL

Cole made her Women's National Basketball League debut with the AIS in 2009–10 season at 16 years old.[3]

Her professional career began when she moved to the Bulleen Boomers in the 2012–13 season. She re-signed with rebranded Melbourne Boomers for the 2013–14 season. In the 2014–15 season, and was named the Round 12 Player of the Week.

Cole remained with the Boomers through the 2016–17 season.[4]

Following the 2018–19 season, Cole signed with the Dandenong Rangers at shooting guard.

In January 2019, she was named to the 2018–19 WNBL All-Star Five for the first time in her career. Cole was also announced as the Rangers 2018–19 MVP.[5]

Following the 2019–20 season, the Rangers rebranded to the Southside Flyers, where she committed for the 2019–20 to 2020–21 season.[6] As of 2022 her name is still on their website.[7]

FIBA 3x3

Cole was a member of both the 2018 and 2019 Australian teams in the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup.[8] 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.[9]

National team

Youth Level
Cole 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]

Senior Level
In January 2019 it was announced that Cole was part of the 2019 Opals squad.[10][11][12]

Recognition

In the 2018–19 season, Cole was awarded runner-up for WNBL Most Valuable Player Award[13] and was selected in the WNBL All-Star team.[14]

FIBA named Cole one of the "10 Women Who Defined 3x3 in 2019".[15]

Other roles

As of 2022 Cole is the Ambassador for Lymphoma Australia.[16]

References
  1. "Player Rebecca Cole: Opals". Basketball Australia. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021.
  2. "Life isn't fair': The beautiful bond – and remarkable resilience – between Bec and Gary Cole".
  3. "Bec Cole's meteoric rise to be named in the 2018/19 WNBL All-Star Five in her first season with the Jayco Rangers".
  4. "WBNL Basketall: Southside Flyers: Know Your Flyers: Bec Cole".
  5. "Milestones and misses: Bec Cole's meteoric rise to be named in the 2018/19 WNBL all-star five in her first season with the Jayco Rangers". 29 March 2019.
  6. "The WNBL season is an opportunity for Rebecca Cole".
  7. "WBNL Basketball: Know Your Flyers: Bec Cole".
  8. "Fiba 3x3 Bec Cole".
  9. "Fiba 3x3 Aisa Cup 2018".
  10. "Press Release: 2019 Chemist Warehouse Australian Opals Squad Announced". Basketball Australia. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  11. Roy Ward (10 January 2019). "Opals Name Squad For Crucial Olympic Qualifiers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  12. "Australian Women'S Squad announced for FIBA's 3x3 Olympic qualifying tournament".
  13. "2018/19 Chemist Warehouse WNBL award winners announced".
  14. "WNBL MVP 2018/19 votes and awards: Kelsey Griffin named MVP".
  15. "FIBA names Bec Cole as one of '10 women who defined 3x3 in 2019'".
  16. "Ambassador Rebecca Cole". Lymphoma Australia. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
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