It would have been easy for Jason to pack it in and no one would have blamed him. But he accepted the challenge of making the forward to guard transition
instead. He worked relentlessly in his back yard until well after dark handling the basketball and developing a shot from the perimeter. Despite his efforts, the beginning of his junior year saw Jason logging more time on the bench than exercising his newly developed guard skills on the floor in competition. That is, until December 9th in a road game at Holmes, when Mustang point guard Brett Reilly had his head slammed into the floor sustaining a nasty gash that would sideline him for the next month, opening a window of opportunity for Jason Cooper. Cooper would join Senior Rob Doyle in the backcourt for the Mustangs during Brett's absence and play guard.
Cooper seized the opportunity by playing a creditable game at home as the Mustangs beat Clark County and Coop scored six, BUT it was at the crosstown shootout vs Campbell County the next night that Coop would earn the right to call the position his own and earn the renewed respect of the Mustangs coaching staff. Jason handled the ball like a seasoned veteran vs the Camel presssure and put eleven points on the board leading the Mustangs to a 63-49 victory over the rival Camels and the rest as they say - is history.
Cooper earned a starting spot in the Mustang lineup his senior season alternating on occasion with classmate Brett Reilly and Junior Brad Seiter. Combining the talents of the three the Mustangs suffered no woes at the guard position during his senior season.
Cooper waited until "Cooper Family Night" at Simon Kenton on February 12th to pitch his career's best night, scoring 17 points in the first half, pacing the Mustangs to an easy win in Independence before family and friends.
Cooper stills wears the venerable "35" jersey and has been a credit to it enhancing it's reputation of being worn by only the finest of Mustang athletes.
Jason Coopr finished his senior season as our second leading scorer, second only to Evan McDole, arguably the finest player in Northern Kentucky. Jason appeared in all 24 contests, shooting 53% from the field while putting up a whopping 226 points for a 9.4ppg average. He led the Mustangs from the free-throw line, hitting on 54 of 81 tries for 67%. He pulled down 73 boards, blocked 8 shots, utilized his soccer skills and quick feet to accumulate a team-leading 52 steals, and had 37 assists.
Cooper could have chucked it in back after his sophomore season and nobody would have blamed him a bit. But, he didn't and instead made the successful conversion from forward to guard, earned himself a starting position and became a leader of the 2004-05 Brossart Mustangs - He will forever have our respect.
In addition to being an outstanding basketball player, Jason holds the school record for most goals scored in a career at Brossart High School in Soccer. |
