Former Otago Boys' High School star Joe Cook-Green has signed to play Junior College basketball in the USA.
The 185cm (6'2") point guard will play for Northwest Florida State College in the upcoming season.
Excited to add Joe Cook-Green to the @NWF_Raiders MBB Family! 6-2 PG who played for New Zealand National Team pic.twitter.com/0JiKYvLNfI
— Jake Williams (@CoachWilliams_) July 2, 2016
Cook-Green follows fellow Dunedin players Sam Timmins, Darcy Knox, Zoe Richards, Brittany Richards and Richard Rodger to find places in the US college system via the Mainland Eagles Academy.
A Junior College is a two year school, from which players can transfer to four-year schools. Northwest Florida State won the Junior College National Championship in 2015 and finished runner-up in 2012 and 2013. Its high level of talent attracts the attention of Division 1 scouts, meaning it has a strong success-rate in getting players to the higher level.
Cook-Green attended Otago Boys' from 2011-2014, winning a National Secondary Schools Championship in his final year and being named to the tournament team. A year earlier he was a key member of the National Champion Otago U17 team and was selected for that tournament team too.
Last year he followed Dunedin coach Mark Dickel to Christchurch, completing his last year of secondary school at Cashmere High School, while playing for the Canterbury Rams in the NBL.
At U19 level he was named national Most Valuable Player, as his Canterbury U19 team put on a dominant display in winning the national title.
The past year has seen him battle back from an achilles injury, which caused him to miss the 2016 NBL.
