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West Liberty’s Cooper Ready to Get Started

Cooper

WEST LIBERTY — The first thing most people notice about new West Liberty women’s basketball coach Kyle Cooper, is his upbeat personality. The second is the continued use of the word family.

It’s not just a word in the Cooper household, it’s a way of going about daily life. His wife, Katie, is West Liberty’s Director of Financial Aid. Cooper’s family resides in the Erie, Pa., area, and Katie is a native of Weirton.

“We’re a West Liberty family,” Cooper said proudly Friday from the road. “The reality is, I love West Liberty.

“It has really felt like home to me. As much as assistant coaches were looking for jobs, I wasn’t.”

Which ends up being kind of ironic, since when ultra-successful coach Lynn Ullom stepped down after 25-plus record-breaking seasons to become the school’s athletics director, the WLU administration wasn’t out looking for a replacement. It knew that person was already on campus.

“I can’t tell you how much it means to me that President (Stephen) Greiner and Coach Ullom didn’t even go through the interview process because they knew I was the guy they wanted for the job,” Cooper said. “It’s really hard to explain the respect I have for Coach Ullom. He is more than a mentor to me, we have become great friends.

“The fact that he empowered me and allowed me to grow means a lot.

“I am blessed in the fact that my former boss is still my boss.”

To say the last month has been a whirlwind for Cooper would be an understatement. Because of the quick turnaround there was no time for an introductory press conference, partly because he wanted to get into contact with his returning players before they left campus for the summer, and also due to the fact that he and his family had a trip to Disney planned for more than a year.

“I literally got announced that Friday morning and my wife, son and I were headed off to Disney,” Cooper said with a laugh. “Coming back from that and getting everything going has been amazing.

“The amount of people who have reached out, it is way more than I could have ever imagined.

“It’s crazy to think about the opportunity to step into a program Coach Ullom has built over 25-plus years. Having been there (as an assistant) for four years it’s a pretty rare thing.

“It’s not a rebuild. It’s about maintaining an elite program and keeping it at an elite level.”

The Hilltoppers were a young team last season and struggled to an uncharacteristic 9-20 record. But included in there was a victory at home and a one-point road loss to rival and what turned out to be two-time Mountain East Conference champion Wheeling Jesuit.

West Liberty never really got off the ground in part because of a rash of devastating injuries, but also because it didn’t have a true point guard that has become a staple of the program.

“You don’t have to look hard to figure out we are Point Guard U,” Cooper said. “We ended up not having the team on the court that we thought we would, but we have stopped the excuses about last year.

“This team makeup is ideal for what I and we want to do. We’re just adding a couple of pieces.”

Perhaps the biggest addition is incoming freshman point guard Audrey Tingle, who allows McKenna Shives to move back to her natural shooting guard spot. It will also open things up for shooters such as Johnie Olkosky and Brandie Beader, as well as make it more difficult for teams to take away post Marissa Brown.

“I don’t think we’re going to re-invent the wheel. One of the things that make me and Coach Ullom a great fit, is we share a lot of the same philosophies,” Cooper said. “Offensively we’re going to look to get out in transition and if it’s not there, we are going to be motion-based and we will put some sets in to take advantage of kids we have.

“Defensively we’re going to continue to be sound. One underrated thing, is how good Coach Ullom’s teams were defensively.

“Without giving away too much, we may look to turn up the heat a bit more in the half court, which I guess is the Mike Carey in me.”

Carey, of course, is the head women’s basketball coach at West Virginia University. Cooper spent four seasons (2007-10) as the head student manager and graduate assistant with Carey at WVU. During his first two years (2005-2006) at the school, Cooper served as the assistant head manager and basketball camp counselor for men’s coach John Beilein’s Elite 8 and Sweet 16 teams.

“I am forever grateful to Coach Carey for pulling me to the women’s side of basketball and his continued support and guidance,” Cooper said on the day his hiring was announced. “Not only did it force me to expand my horizons, it also created opportunities for me to form relationships with dynamic women’s coaches such as Joanna Bernabei-McNamee and Semeka Randall that I still hold dear.”

Cooper has been West Liberty’s recruiting coordinator for the last several seasons and doesn’t see that changing much. In fact, he was responsible for bringing in the entire team he now coaches. But, he is comfortable sharing some of those duties with newly named assistant Cassie Seth, a person he says will provide him with balance.

“She’s a former D-II player and a high school coach, so she knows how to relate to the level of kids we are recruiting,” Cooper said. “That is going to allow us to recruit the best.

“We’re going to let players play. I tend to be a little bit of a softy for our kids and that carries over on the floor. It’s about the relationships and that is what I sell on the recruiting trail.

“It really is a family here.”

With Cooper, the story always begins and ends with that word.

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