Wareham's Aaron Cote takes his shot at Coffeyville

WAREHAM — Aaron Cote has taken thousands of shots over his five-year high school basketball career at Wareham.

He may have taken his biggest shot on Friday, May 1 as he signed to play basketball next year in Kansas at Coffeyville Community College, one of the top JUCO basketball programs in the country.

“Their program has a good history,” said Cote, the 2026 Standard-Times Boys Basketball Player of the Year and 2026 Dave Cowens Award winner. "(Coffeyville assistant coach John Weigner) was telling me about all the people that have come through and had a successful career and are now playing in the (NBA) G League or Div. I. I said, ‘I might as well take the shot.’ 

“I feel like this is a big stepping stone. I had choices to go somewhere in Massachusetts, but I chose to go far away and just lock in on basketball and school.”

“When we were looking at schools, we were looking at many different pathways, but we said what is the path of least resistance to get to your goal that you want to get there,” said Wareham head coach Steve Faniel of how Cote decided on Coffeyville. “He’s there to play basketball. He’s there to do school work. With nothing else around him, I think he can lock in and focus on doing that.” 

Cote’s ultimate goal is to play the highest level of collegiate basketball possible.  

“It feels like a dream come true, but it’s just the start of where I want to go in life and it’s a stepping stone to playing college basketball,” he said. “It’s always been one of my dreams.”

A year ago, that dream felt far-fetched when Cote suffered a season-ending ankle injury that sidelined him for most of his junior campaign and required surgery.

But Cote came back stronger than ever, powering Wareham to its third straight state championship in the past four years by averaging 25.1 points, 4.3 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.4 steals per game as a senior on the way to becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,593 points.

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In the Div. 4 state final, Cote notched 20 of his game-high 31 points in the second half to power top-seeded Wareham to a thrilling 80-73 comeback win to knock off defending state champion Georgetown to become the first SouthCoast basketball player ever to win three state championships in the sport. 

“I thought his state championship game was such an impressive performance all-around,” said Coffeyville assistant coach John Weigner, who recruited Cote. “He can shoot it. He’s a really good facilitator. He has a good feel for the game. He doesn’t force anything; it comes naturally to him. He can get to the rim. He’s got a really quick first step. 

“Overall, his package is just elite to be honest. He can pass, he can shoot, he can come off ball screens and make handoffs with the right reads. He doesn’t get shook up by pressure. For us, he checked all the boxes of what we were looking for in a point guard.”

Under longtime head coach Jay Herkelman, Coffeyville has a history of producing players that go onto the next level.

“He’s had multiple guys go on and play in the NBA and the G League as well as 100 guys go to the Division I level,” said Weigner of Herkelman. “He’s got a National Championship to his name and 787 career wins. I’d say we’re one of the five best junior colleges in the country in terms of basketball. 

“We try to identify prospects that can play at that Division I level and produce within a year or two and that’s what we aim for and that’s what I saw in Aaron early on. We’re really glad he’s coming to play for us next year. I think he’s going to be a really good player at this level and eventually move on to a Division I institution.”

Faniel knows Cote is ready for the next chapter. 

“I’m excited for him,” Faniel said. “I think it’ll be a different challenge for him. He’s very excited. I think it’s a great opportunity to put himself out there, a great opportunity to challenge himself, a great opportunity to work at his craft and get better and put himself in a position to be successful going forward in reaching his goals. 

“He has all the potential in the world. Now he just needs to apply the things he has learned and showcase his skillset. He needs to put himself in position to get himself seen and to prove to himself and everyone else that he can do what he does at the high school level at the college level.”

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Aaron Cote signs to play basketball for Coffeyville Community College