Cynthia Cooper, former head coach of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and two-time WNBA Most Valuable Player, was named the head women’s basketball coach at Prairie View A&M University during the summer, according to athletics director Charles McClelland.A native of Los Angeles, Calif., Cooper has won on every level of basketball. She attended the University of Southern California and was a four-year letter winner at the guard position from 1982-86. She led the Lady Trojans to back-to-back NCAA tournament titles in 1982 and 1983 and closed out her collegiate career with an appearance in the 1986 NCAA tournament championship game and a spot on the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team. Cooper ranks eighth on USC’s all-time scoring list with 1,559 points, fifth in assists (381) and third in steals (256).
Cooper represented the United States and earned a gold medal in the 1988 Olympics and she won an Olympic bronze medal in 1992. She has also participated and earned gold medals in the United States Goodwill Games (1986, 1990), World Championships (1986, 1990) and the 1987 Pan-American Games.
After an illustrious career overseas, Cooper returned to the United States in 1997 and was allocated to the Houston Comets of the newly formed WNBA.
She made an instant impact for the Comets by leading them to four consecutive WNBA titles and was named the WNBA Finals MVP during each championship run. She was selected to the WNBA first-team from 1997-2000 and was voted as the league’s most valuable player in 1997 and 1998.
Cooper retired from the WNBA in 2000 and was named the head coach of the Phoenix Mercury in 2001, compiling a 19-23 overall record.
After spending two seasons on the sidelines, she returned to the court as a member of the Comets in 2003 but only played in four games due to injuries. She retired prior to the start of the 2004 season and finished her career as Houston’s all-time leader in scoring (2,601), free throw percentage (.871) and assists (602). She was voted in as a starter for the 1999, 2000 and 2003 WNBA All-Star Games and led the WNBA in scoring for three consecutive seasons.
Cooper’s achievements off the court match her achievements on the court. An advocate for breast cancer research, she founded the Mary Cobbs “Building Dreams” Foundation in honor of her mother and has worked with General Motors Team Concept: Cure program.
An accomplished writer, Cooper wrote an autobiography titled She Got Game in 1999, and published a book project for elementary school children titled Modern Fairy Tales. In addition, she has also released a personal collection of poems called Reflections.
One of the most popular women to ever play the game of basketball, Cooper has left her mark on the court with her own Nike shoe called the “Air C14.”
She has also had an outdoor sports facility, “The Coop,” dedicated in her name at the Nike World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, and was selected as one of 38 Houston sports legends honored at the opening ceremonies for Super Bowl XXXVIII: A Houston Salute on Jan. 26, 2004.
In a recent interview, Coach Cooper was asked why she chose coaching at Prairie View out of the many other opportunities that were presented to her and she responded, “First of all, I wanted to get back into coaching and I wanted to coach on the collegiate level. An opportunity at Prairie View allowed me to stay in the Houston area. When I met the athletic director and discovered his passion for the Prairie View athletic program and his desire to turn things around, it made me fall in love with coming to Prairie View.