JOHN COOPER HIRED AS ASSISTANT COACH FOR UNLV MEN’S BASKETBALL
Former head coach has almost three decades of collegiate coaching experience; spent last two years as assistant at SMU
@UNLVAthletics | @TheRunninRebels
John Cooper has been hired as an assistant coach for the UNLV men’s basketball program, head coach Kevin Kruger announced Monday.
Cooper has almost three decades of experience and comes to Las Vegas after having spent the past two seasons at SMU. Over his 28-year coaching career, he has been a head coach at Miami (Ohio) and Tennessee State as well as an assistant coach at Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Oregon and Auburn in addition to SMU.
“We are very excited to add Coach Cooper to our staff,” Kruger said. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, and know he will hit the ground running immediately.”
In his two seasons in Dallas, Cooper helped the Mustangs achieve a 35-15 overall record and impressive marks of 23-3 at home and 20-8 mark in American Athletic Conference games. SMU made the National Invitation Tournament in 2021 and 2022, and three Mustangs were named All-AAC: Kendric Davis, Feron Hunt, and Marcus Weathers. Davis was All-AAC First Team both seasons and AAC Player of the Year in 2021-22.
“I look forward to joining the tradition-rich Runnin’ Rebel program,” Cooper said. “I’m especially excited to work with Coach Kruger and the staff in continuing to build off the solid foundation that was put in place this past year. Coach Kruger is obviously a rising star in the profession with a great pedigree and I can’t wait to get to work.”
Cooper joined the Mustangs after three seasons on staff at Oklahoma State. His time at OSU included a 21-win campaign in 2017-18 that saw six wins over ranked opponents, which tied for the national lead.
A Kansas City, Missouri native, Cooper spent the previous five seasons as the head coach at Miami (Ohio), where his defense-first approach saw the RedHawks ranked among the nation’s top 50 in steals in four of his five seasons.
In all, Cooper has been in collegiate coaching since 1993, including eight seasons as a head coach.
In his five seasons with the RedHawks, Cooper helped produce five All-Mid America Conference selections, including 2017 MAC Freshman of the Year, Michael Weathers. Every RedHawk senior earned their degree, and four players went on to a career in the professional ranks.
Prior to his stay at Miami, Cooper served as the head coach at Tennessee State for three seasons, where he built that program into a formidable force. His 2011-12 TSU squad posted a 20-13 record, the school’s first winning mark since 1995-96 and the Tigers’ first 20-win season in 32 years.
Perhaps TSU’s most impressive victory came on Feb. 9, 2012 when it defeated seventh-ranked Murray State, 72-68. The loss was one of just two suffered that season by the 31-2 Racers.
Cooper’s team nearly earned a berth in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, losing at the hands of Murray State by a score of 54-52 in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament final. TSU also claimed its first win over an SEC opponent in 2011-12 when the Tigers defeated South Carolina, 64-63.
Cooper was a finalist for four different coaching awards in 2011-12, including the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award (national coach of the year), the John McLendon Award (top overall collegiate coach), The Hugh Durham Award (nation’s top Mid-Major coach) and the Ben Jobe Award (nation’s top minority coach in Division I).
Cooper joined Tennessee State following a five-year stint as associate head coach at Auburn University under Jeff Lebo. He played a vital role in the revitalization of the Tigers’ basketball program with Auburn recording its first winning season since 2003. Auburn posted a 24-12 record in 2008-09, advancing to the quarterfinals of the NIT.
Prior to his time at Auburn, Cooper spent two seasons at Oregon where he helped the Ducks to a 41-23 mark. Oregon went 23-10 with an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2002-03 and had an 18-13 record in 2003-04, losing in the NIT semifinals.
From the 1995-96 season through the 2000-01 campaign, Cooper served as an assistant coach at South Carolina. During a three-year stretch from 1995-98, the Gamecocks posted a 66-28 record. The 1996-97 squad won the Southeastern Conference title, finishing with an overall record of 24-8 and finishing No. 6 in the national rankings.
Cooper’s first coaching job was as an assistant at Fayetteville State from 1993-95.
He played collegiately at Wichita State from 1987-91, leading the Shockers in scoring and rebounding during his junior and senior seasons. Cooper was a two-time team captain and a Rhodes Scholar candidate his senior year.
He played professional basketball with the Ft. Wayne Fury of the Continental Basketball Association in 1991-92 and with the Commodore Mustangs (Netherlands) in the European Professional Basketball League in 1992-93.
Cooper earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Wichita State in 1991. He is married to the former Melissa Mathis, and they have a daughter, Kennedy, and a son, Kameron.
