SMU Athletics

John Cooper was named an assistant coach by Head Coach Tim Jankovich on Oct. 2, 2020. He has coached for 28 seasons, inlcluding the past two at SMU. Cooper 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 his two seasons on the Hilltop, the Mustangs went 35-15 overall with a 23-3 record at Moody Coliseum and a 20-8 mark in American Athletic Conference games. SMU made the NIT in 2021 and 2022. 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.

He 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, and assistant coaching stops at South Carolina, Oregon and Auburn.

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. His three-year overall record at TSU was 43-51, including a 27-25 mark in OVC games.

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 National Invitation Tournament.

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 ‘03-04, 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 ‘95-96 to ‘97-98, 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.

Cooper played collegiately at Wichita State from 1987-91. He led 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. They have a daughter, Kennedy, and a son, Kameron.