By Sofia Wright — Content Editor
In what’s been a silent offseason because of coronavirus, sports news is scarce. But the silence broke on Friday morning.
Ryan Cooper, former San Jose State men’s basketball assistant coach, is returning as an associate head coach for the women’s basketball team. The announcement was made by head coach Jamie Craighead.
“Coach Cooper has been on my radar since he was first hired on the men’s basketball staff here,” Craighead told SJSU Athletics.
“We have talked endlessly about basketball, program development and all aspects of the coaching world. I have known I wanted to work with him and the timing couldn’t be more perfect for both of us,” Craighead said. “He brings a relentless work ethic, energy and passion for basketball and young people and I know he will help us reach new heights as we continue to grow the program at San Jose State.”
Cooper, only 33 years old, is a young addition to the already young coaching staff.
Prior to the announcement, Cooper was coaching at his alma mater, Notre Dame de Namur. There, he was the men’s basketball head coach but he only served for only a single season.
The 2019-2020 campaign with Cooper at the helm for NDNU saw a 3-19 conference record and an overall 4-24 record.
Cooper has coached basketball for over 12 years with a large chunk of his coaching career coming from high school basketball.
From 2016 to 2019, Cooper filled several roles on the men’s basketball staff for SJSU.
After leaving his head coaching job at Valley Christian High School, he began as the recruiting coordinator and director of basketball operations.
In 2018, Cooper was promoted to an assistant coach by Jean Prioleau.
During Cooper’s first season on staff with the Spartans, the team finished with 14 wins. The 2016-17 season saw the program’s most wins since the start of the decade.
Cooper joins as SJSU’s women’s basketball team had the largest program turnaround in the country last season. The team doubled its win total from 9 in 2019 to 18 in 2020.
Notably, the team was projected to finish dead last.
The photo used in this story was kindly given to us by SJSU Athletics.
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