Rebecca Cole (basketball)

Rebecca Cole
No. 2 – Waverley Falcons
PositionShooting guard
LeagueNBL1 South
Personal information
Born (1992-03-19) 19 March 1992
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Listed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Career information
High schoolCaulfield Grammar
Playing career2009–present
Career history
2009–2012Australian Institute of Sport
2012–2018Bulleen/Melbourne Boomers
2015–2016Nunawading Spectres
2017Eltham Wildcats
2018Melbourne Tigers
2018–2025Dandenong Rangers / Southside Flyers
2019Dandenong Rangers (NBL1)
2021Bulleen Boomers (Big V)
2022–presentWaverley 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.

Early life

Cole was born in Melbourne, Victoria, in the suburb of Mount Waverley.[2] She attended secondary school at Caulfield Grammar School.[3]

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.[4] After three seasons with the AIS, she joined the Bulleen Boomers. She played for the Bulleen/Melbourne Boomers every year between 2012 and 2018.[5] She was a member of the Boomers' grand final team in 2017–18.[6]

For the 2018–19 season, Cole joined the Dandenong Rangers.[5] She was named to the 2018–19 WNBL All-Star Five and was named the Rangers Club MVP.[4][7][8] 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,[9] helping the team win the Hub championship. They finished runners-up in 2022–23[10] and won the WNBL championship in 2023–24.[11] She returned to Southside for the 2024–25 WNBL season.[12] She parted ways with the Flyers in August 2025.[13]

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.[5]

In 2019, Cole joined the Dandenong Rangers for the inaugural NBL1 season.[5] In 2021, she played for the Bulleen Boomers in the Big V. She joined the Waverley Falcons of the NBL1 South in 2022[5] and in 2024 helped the team win the NBL1 South championship.[14][15] 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.[16][17][18] She was also named to the NBL1 National Finals All-Star Five.[19]

Cole re-joined the Waverley Falcons for the 2025 NBL1 South season.[20] She was named NBL1 South All Second Team.[21] She re-joined the Falcons for the 2026 season.[22]

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.[4]

In January 2019, it was announced that Cole was part of the 2019 Opals squad.[23][24][25]

3x3

Cole was a member of both the 2018 and 2019 Australian teams in the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup.[26] 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.[27] FIBA named Cole one of the "10 Women Who Defined 3x3 in 2019".[28]

Personal life

Cole is the daughter of Gary and Ros Cole and has two older sisters, Jessica and Emma.[29]

As of 2022, Cole is the Ambassador for Lymphoma Australia.[30]

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. ↑ "It's a Cole World with WNBA-bound Anneli Maley | Basketball.com.au". www.basketball.com.au. Retrieved 16 July 2026.
  4. 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.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Rebecca Cole". australiabasket.com. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  6. ↑ Johnpapadimitriou (10 November 2020). "WBNL Basketball: Southside Flyers: Know Your Flyers: Bec Cole". wnbl.basketball/southside.
  7. ↑ "2018/19 Chemist Warehouse WNBL award winners announced". WNBL. 18 February 2019.
  8. ↑ "WNBL MVP 2018/19 votes and awards: Kelsey Griffin named MVP". 18 February 2019.
  9. ↑ Katelentini (5 November 2020). "The WNBL season is an opportunity for Rebecca Cole". wnbl.basketball.
  10. ↑ "2023–24 Media Guide" (PDF). wnbl.basketball. p. 62. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  11. ↑ "WNBL24 SOUTHSIDE FLYERS CYGNETT WNBL CHAMPIONS". wnbl.basketball. 17 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  12. ↑ Badkin, Liam (28 October 2024). "Cole's Flyers looking for consecutive championships". Basketball Rookie Me Central. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  13. ↑ Flyers, Southside (6 August 2025). "thank you bec cole". southsideflyers.wnbl.com.au. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ "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.
  16. ↑ "Recap NBL1 National Finals | Women's Championship Game". NBL1.com.au. 18 August 2024. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024.
  17. ↑ "Bec Cole is the Mitsubishi Motors NBL1 Finals MVP". facebook.com/NBL1. 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ "Our Mitsubishi Motors NBL1 National Finals women's All-Star Five". facebook.com/NBL1. 18 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  20. ↑ "National Finals MVP re-signs for 2025". nbl1.com.au. 14 February 2025. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  21. ↑ "Stars Shine Bright at the NBL1 South 2025 Awards Night". nbl1.com.au. 15 August 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  22. ↑ "Bec Cole returns to the Waverley Falcons for a fifth season in 2026". NBL1.com.au. 17 January 2026. Retrieved 17 January 2026.
  23. ↑ "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.
  24. ↑ Roy Ward (10 January 2019). "Opals Name Squad For Crucial Olympic Qualifiers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  25. ↑ "Australian Women's Squad announced for FIBA's 3x3 Olympic qualifying tournament".
  26. ↑ "Fiba 3x3 Bec Cole".
  27. ↑ "Fiba 3x3 Aisa Cup 2018".
  28. ↑ "FIBA names Bec Cole as one of '10 women who defined 3x3 in 2019'".
  29. ↑ "'Life isn't fair': The beautiful bond – and remarkable resilience – between Bec and Gary Cole". foxsports.com.au. 23 November 2019.
  30. ↑ "Ambassador Rebecca Cole". Lymphoma Australia. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
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