The son of a Ballarat Miners great is fast filling the shoes of his father after being selected to the Australian Boomers world cup squad.
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Xavier Cooks is the latest name to be added to the initial 18-man squad for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup later this year.
He replaces Detroit Pistons big-man Thon maker, who withdrew from the team to focus on his NBA career.
Born in Ballarat, The 23-year-old is the son of long-time Miners centre Eric Cooks, who played 11 years with the Miners between 1986 and 1997.
Now serving as assistant coach of the Illawarra Hawks, Cooks believes his son is in with a chance of making the side which will be cut down to 12 players before the tournament begins.
"He was a kid that always wanted to play sports but went through a period where he didn't think he was good enough," Eric told The Courier.
"So I think its a great accomplishment to stick with it and achieve quite a bit."
While still somewhat unknown on the Australian professional circuit, Xavier's basketball profile has skyrocketed in recent years through strong play in Europe and at an American collegiate level.
"After we left Ballarat we came to Woollongong where he grew up and eventually got taken by the Australian Institute of Sport," Eric said.
"He played against the Miners a couple of times during that period, then he went off the college in South Carolina."
Xavier spent four years at Winthrop University, winning player of the year in his conference, before graduating in 2018.
Despite gaining interest from a number of NBL teams, Xavier opted to showcase his talent in Europe.
Suiting up in the German BBL league, he joined a host of top-line players, including former Sydney Kings big-man Perry Ellis. And he didn't disappoint.
He went through a period where he was doubting whether he had the ability to play at the next level
- Eric Cooks
"Xavier ended up playing the most minutes which is pretty good for a rookie," said Eric,
"He was the second leading scorer and leading shot-blocker - he had a really good year."
The Ballarat-born product will join a who's who of Australian talent in the Boomers squad, where he'll be competing for game-time against the likes of Ben Simmons, Patty Mills, Joe Ingles and Matthew Dellavedova.
With such big-name competition headlining the squad, Eric said if his son makes the team, he would be happy with any role he's given.
"There is a lot of talented players in the squad, we're talking nine or ten NBA players alone," he said.
"If he's lucky enough to be selected in the final 12 I think he'll be happy to play any role. Head coach Andrej Lemanis has shown a lot of faith over the years so you never know."
