By: Jay Yeomans

Published: July 24, 2018

Team Fredette managed to advance to the Super 16 of The Basketball Tournament despite getting roughed up on the glass in each of their first two games. In fact, they got outrebounded by 18 in their opening round game against the Peoria All-Stars and by nine in the matchup with the Jackson, TN Underdawgs.

On Wednesday, the team made an effort to remedy the rebounding situation, adding former Utah Jazz and Sacramento King forward, Jack Cooley, according to the tournament’s website.

Cooley’s addition should help to offset the absence of Big men Dejan Kravic and Devin Williams who are on the team’s roster, but weren’t with Team Fredette for the opening two rounds of winner-take-all $2 million tournament.

Cooley has been a rebounding force since his days at Notre Dame where he was an All-Big East first-team selection as a senior after averaging a double-double with 13.1 points and 10.1 rebounds in 2012-13.

His work on the glass has continued during his five years as a pro while playing in Turkey, Spain and Germany as well as the G-League and the NBA.

Listed at 6-10 and 274 pounds, Cooley spent the 2017-18 season on a two-way contract with the Sacramento Kings. By nature of the two-way deal, he spent much of the season with the Reno Bighorns where he terrorized opponents on the offensive glass while putting up big scoring numbers as well.

In 39 games in Reno, he averaged 9.8 boards including 5.1 on the offensive end in just 27.5 minutes a night. He also registered 17.7 points on 56.1 percent shooting from the field.

The NBAGLeague YouTube channel shared some video of his best plays from last season.

While he didn’t see a ton of floor time during his short stint playing for the Sacramento Kings, Cooley showed that he could still do some really impressive work on the backboards at the NBA level as well. In 12.4 minutes a contest over a seven-game stretch, he pulled down 4.3 rebounds (2.0 on the offensive end) while chipping in with 5.7 points.

He followed that up with some solid play in the NBA summer league while suiting up for the Phoenix Suns. Even though he played just 12 minutes a night, he averaged 6.8 points on 68 percent shooting from the field to go along with 4.4 rebounds and a block in five games.

While he didn’t see big minutes in the summer league, the fact that he was playing just weeks ago means he should still be in game shape and ready to go this Friday when Team Fredette takes on a tough opponent in the Fort Wayne Champs.