Bryce Cotton
Bryce Jiron Cotton is an American-Australian professional basketball player for the Adelaide 36ers of the Australian National Basketball League. As a member of the Perth Wildcats between 2017 and 2025, he won three NBL championships and five NBL Most Valuable Player Awards. He is also a two-time NBL Grand Final MVP, eight-time All-NBL First Team recipient, and collected eight NBL scoring titles.
Cotton played college basketball for four seasons with the Providence Friars, where he was a two-time first-team All-Big East honoree in 2013 and 2014. After going undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft, Cotton had a number of short stints in the NBA over his first two professional seasons, playing for the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies. He also played in the NBA Development League, China, Turkey and Italy between 2014 and 2018.
Cotton arrived in Australia to play for the Wildcats midway through the 2016–17 NBL season, going on to lead Perth to the NBL championship in the 2017 NBL Finals behind a grand final MVP performance. After winning his first league MVP in 2018, he won his second and third NBL championships in 2019 and 2020 while also garnering his second NBL MVP and second grand final MVP in 2020. He won his third, fourth and fifth NBL MVPs in 2021, 2024 and 2025 respectively. In 2025, he set a club record with his seventh Wildcats Club MVP.
In May 2025, Cotton signed with the Adelaide 36ers. Four months later, he became an Australian citizen.
Early life
Cotton was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. His parents separated when he was a toddler and his father worked as a police officer on the other side of the country. He reconnected with his father in New York while in college. His uncle, former NFL player David Adams, often provided the family with financial assistance during tough times. Cotton's grandmother, Mary, helped raise him and his brother Justin while their mother worked in real estate.Cotton loved sports as a child, playing basketball, football and baseball. He was advised during fifth grade to no longer play football due to the high risk of head injuries which could lead to seizures. He was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy and his mother was told that he "wasn't going to make it past sixth grade, and that she should start planning for the funeral". The last seizure Cotton experienced was on his final day of sixth grade. He remained on medication for several years, but eventually no longer required treatment.
Focusing on basketball, one of Cotton's biggest deficiencies was his lack of height. He worked with his uncle for an edge to combat taller opponents and modelled his game on NBA star Allen Iverson. He spent much of his youth on outdoor basketball courts playing pick-up games.
High school career
After spending his junior year in Las Vegas, Cotton completed secondary school at Palo Verde High School in Tucson. Cotton helped lead Palo Verde to a 24–7 record and a berth in the state 4A semifinals in the 2009–10 season. He averaged 23.6 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.7 steals per game as a senior, and scored 30 or more points nine times, including a career-high 40 points in an 85–82 win over Buckeye on February 16, 2010. He also set a school record for the highest triple-double with 37 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against Rio Rico on December 11, 2009. He earned First Team All-City and First Team All-State honors in 2010. He also had perfect grades and a high GPA.Cotton was not highly recruited out of high school. He was turned down by Montana State and Northern Arizona, and was later also turned away by Division II school Chico State. He also reportedly tried to obtain a scholarship from Houston Baptist.
College career
Freshman season
Cotton's family could not afford to pay for college tuition and his scholarship dream looked over until Providence College made an offer just three days before freshman orientation. After reportedly signing with Miami Dade College on August 18, 2010, Cotton instead committed to the Providence Friars on August 30. He scored 15 points in the Friars' season opener against Dartmouth on November 13, 2010. He was a bench player in his freshman season and was unable to break through in a rotation that featured MarShon Brooks, Vincent Council, Gerard Coleman and Duke Mondy. In 31 games in 2010–11, Cotton averaged 4.0 points and 1.5 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game.Sophomore season
As a sophomore in 2011–12, Cotton became a starter and was the team's second leading scorer, averaging 14.3 points per game while shooting 37.9 percent from 3-point range. On December 10, 2011, Cotton scored 20 of his career-high 34 points in the first half of the Friars' 72–61 win over Bryant. He went 11-of-16 from the field with a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line against Bryant. He later scored 27 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, with a perfect 5-of-5 from 3-point range and 10-of-12 from the free throw line against Louisville on January 10, 2012.Junior season
Despite reports of Cotton leaving Providence following his sophomore season, he continued on with the Friars in 2012–13.Following a breakout sophomore year, Cotton came into his junior season still in the shadows of senior point guard Vincent Council. Cotton was forced to step into the forefront for Providence to make up for injuries in the backcourt to Council and highly touted freshman guard Kris Dunn. Cotton also had to take on a leadership role with a young team. He registered his first career double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds against Bryant on November 12, 2012. On December 1, he injured his knee and missed the second half against Mississippi State. It turned out he had torn his meniscus, but decided to play through the pain for the rest of the season. He scored a season-high 33 points and was 7-of-14 from 3-point territory against Boston College on December 22. He led the Big East Conference in scoring with 18.3 points per game, becoming the fifth Friar all-time to lead the league in scoring. He subsequently earned first-team All-Big East honors. In total, Cotton averaged 19.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 37.8 minutes per game over 32 games.
During the off-season, Cotton had surgery to repair his meniscus.
Senior season
To conclude the 2013–14 regular season, Cotton was the only player in the nation to average more than 40 minutes per game, having averaged 41.9 minutes in Big East competition. His high minutes per game were as a result of Providence's six overtime games, four of which went to a second overtime. In those four double-overtime outings, Cotton played 200 minutes of a possible 200 minutes. His tireless play carried the Friars to their best season in a decade, as they headed into the Big East tournament with a 20–11 record. After going 3–0 in the Big East tournament, the Friars reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004. It marked Providence's first Big East tournament title since 1994, and Cotton was selected as the tournament MVP. In Providence's 79–77 loss to North Carolina in the NCAA tournament, Cotton scored a career-high 36 points.In 35 games as a senior, Cotton averaged 21.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.0 steals per game. He led the Big East in assists and was second in scoring. He subsequently earned first-team All-Big East honors for the second straight season, as well as being named to the AP Honorable Mention All-America Team. He finished his career ranked fourth all-time in scoring at Providence, and became the fifth player from a major conference to average 20-plus points and five-or-more assists in a season since 2002.
Cotton graduated from Providence with a 3.1 GPA in sociology.
College statistics
Professional career
NBA, D-League, China, and Turkey (2014–2016)
After going undrafted in the 2014 NBA draft, Cotton signed with the San Antonio Spurs on July 7, 2014. He played in six Summer League games and five preseason games for San Antonio, before being waived on October 23, 2014. He subsequently joined San Antonio's NBA Development League affiliate team, the Austin Spurs. He appeared in 34 games for Austin in the 2014–15 season, averaging 22.4 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.3 steals in 40.5 minutes per contest. He scored in double figures on 31 occasions and recorded 20-plus points in 20 games. He also registered 40-or-more points twice, including a season-high 43 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and two steals against the Reno Bighorns on February 19, 2015. He was named D-League Performer of the Week on February 23 after averaging 30.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.3 steals for the week. For the season, he was named to the Western Conference All-Star team for the NBA D-League All-Star Game and earned All-NBA D-League Second Team and NBA D-League All-Rookie First Team honors.On February 24, 2015, Cotton signed a 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz. He made his NBA debut three days later, recording three points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal in just under seven minutes off the bench in a 104–82 win over the Denver Nuggets. He signed a second 10-day contract with the Jazz on March 6, and a multi-year deal on March 16. Over the final four games of the season, he averaged 14.3 points per game, scoring in double figures all four times, including a season-high 21 points against the Dallas Mavericks on April 13. In 15 games for the Jazz to finish the 2014–15 season, he averaged 5.3 points, 1.2 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 10.6 minutes per game. After playing for the Jazz during the 2015 NBA Summer League and making two appearances during the preseason, Cotton was waived by Utah on October 20, 2015.
Cotton re-joined the Austin Spurs for the 2015–16 NBA Development League season. After averaging 22.0 points in four D-League games, he signed with the Phoenix Suns on November 25, 2015. He made his debut for the Suns on December 30 following injuries to Eric Bledsoe and Ronnie Price, scoring two points on 1-of-6 shooting in a 112–79 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. He also had three steals and two assists in just over 21 minutes off the bench. Cotton appeared in the Suns' next two games before being waived on January 7, 2016. He subsequently returned to the Austin Spurs, where he played two more D-League games.
In late January 2016, Cotton signed with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association. In nine games to finish the 2015–16 CBA season, including the 2016 CBA Playoffs, he averaged 21.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
On April 1, 2016, Cotton signed a 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies. On April 11, he signed with the Grizzlies for the remainder of the 2015–16 regular season. He appeared in five games for the Grizzlies before parting ways with the team prior to the start of the playoffs.
After playing for the Atlanta Hawks during the 2016 NBA Summer League, Cotton signed with Turkish club Anadolu Efes on August 27, 2016. A mutual termination of his contract took place on December 12, 2016, with Cotton citing that the country's safety concerns were a major factor in him leaving. He averaged 8.0 points in 10 EuroLeague games and 10.4 points in seven Turkish League games.