Rebecca Cole (basketball)

Last updated

Rebecca Cole
No. 2Waverley Falcons
Position Shooting guard
League NBL1 South
Personal information
Born (1992-03-19) 19 March 1992 (age 33)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Listed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Career information
Playing career2009–present
Career history
2009–2012 Australian Institute of Sport
2012–2018 Bulleen/Melbourne Boomers
2015–2016 Nunawading Spectres
2017Eltham Wildcats
2018 Melbourne Tigers
2018–2025 Dandenong Rangers / Southside Flyers
2019 Dandenong Rangers (NBL1)
2021 Bulleen Boomers (Big V)
2022–present Waverley Falcons
Career highlights

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.

Contents

Early life

Cole was born in Melbourne, Victoria, in the suburb of Mount Waverley. [2]

Professional career

WNBL

Cole 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] She returned to Southside for the 2024–25 WNBL season. [11] She parted ways with the Flyers in August 2025. [12]

State Leagues

In 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. [13] [14] 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. [15] [16] [17] She was also named to the NBL1 National Finals All-Star Five. [18]

Cole re-joined the Waverley Falcons for the 2025 NBL1 South season. [19] She was named NBL1 South All Second Team. [20]

National team career

5x5

Cole made her international debut with the Under-19 program in 2011. She 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. She played all eight games. [3]

In January 2019, it was announced that Cole was part of the 2019 Opals squad. [21] [22] [23]

3x3

Cole was a member of both the 2018 and 2019 Australian teams in the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup. [24] 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. [25] FIBA named Cole one of the "10 Women Who Defined 3x3 in 2019". [26]

Personal life

Cole is the daughter of Gary and Ros Cole and has two older sisters, Jessica and Emma. [27]

As of 2022, Cole is the Ambassador for Lymphoma Australia. [28]

References

  1. "Rebecca Joy Cole". FIBA . Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  2. "Rebecca Cole". FIBA . Archived from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  3. 1 2 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". 28 March 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Rebecca Cole" . australiabasket.com. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  5. Johnpapadimitriou (10 November 2020). "WBNL Basketball: Southside Flyers: Know Your Flyers: Bec Cole". wnbl.basketball/southside.
  6. "2018/19 Chemist Warehouse WNBL award winners announced". WNBL. 18 February 2019.
  7. "WNBL MVP 2018/19 votes and awards: Kelsey Griffin named MVP". 18 February 2019.
  8. Katelentini (5 November 2020). "The WNBL season is an opportunity for Rebecca Cole". wnbl.basketball.
  9. "2023–24 Media Guide" (PDF). wnbl.basketball. p. 62. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  10. "WNBL24 SOUTHSIDE FLYERS CYGNETT WNBL CHAMPIONS". wnbl.basketball. 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  11. Badkin, Liam (28 October 2024). "Cole's Flyers looking for consecutive championships". Basketball Rookie Me Central. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  12. Flyers, Southside (6 August 2025). "thank you bec cole". southsideflyers.wnbl.com.au. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  13. 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.
  14. "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.
  15. "Recap NBL1 National Finals | Women's Championship Game". NBL1.com.au. 18 August 2024. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024.
  16. "Bec Cole is the Mitsubishi Motors NBL1 Finals MVP". facebook.com/NBL1. 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  17. 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.
  18. "Our Mitsubishi Motors NBL1 National Finals women's All-Star Five". facebook.com/NBL1. 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  19. "National Finals MVP re-signs for 2025". nbl1.com.au. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  20. "Stars Shine Bright at the NBL1 South 2025 Awards Night". nbl1.com.au. 15 August 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  21. "Press Release: 2019 Chemist Warehouse Australian Opals Squad Announced". Basketball Australia. 10 January 2019. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  22. Roy Ward (10 January 2019). "Opals Name Squad For Crucial Olympic Qualifiers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  23. "Australian Women's Squad announced for FIBA's 3x3 Olympic qualifying tournament".
  24. "Fiba 3x3 Bec Cole".
  25. "Fiba 3x3 Aisa Cup 2018".
  26. "FIBA names Bec Cole as one of '10 women who defined 3x3 in 2019'".
  27. "'Life isn't fair': The beautiful bond – and remarkable resilience – between Bec and Gary Cole". foxsports.com.au. 23 November 2019.
  28. "Ambassador Rebecca Cole". Lymphoma Australia. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2022.