Te'a Cooper

Te'a Cooper
Personal information
Born (1997-04-16) April 16, 1997 (age 27)
Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight160 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High schoolMcEachern
(Powder Springs, Georgia)
College
WNBA draft2020: 2nd round, 18th overall pick
Selected by the Phoenix Mercury
Playing career2020–present
PositionPoint guard
Career history
2020–2021Los Angeles Sparks
Career highlights and awards
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Te'a Omari Cooper (born April 16, 1997) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Los Angeles Sparks of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the Baylor Lady Bears, South Carolina Gamecocks, and the Tennessee Volunteers.[1][2]

Early life

Cooper played high school basketball for McEachern High School.[3] In her freshman year, McEachern High School was undefeated as they finished 33–0. She shot 65 percent from the field. She won three Georgia 6A State titles in 2012, 2014 and 2015, and she was the co-MVP of the 2015 McDonald's All-America game.

Professional career

On April 17, 2020, the Phoenix Mercury selected Cooper as the 18th pick in the 2020 WNBA draft.[4][5] Due to the global pandemic from COVID-19, Phoenix Mercury were forced to cut some of their players from the team in May 2020, including Te'a Cooper.[6] The Los Angeles Sparks team took this as an opportunity to transfer some of the Phoenix Mercury players to play for them, and Cooper was picked to play as a point guard.[6] From her previous college 3-point range (56-of-135 for 41.5%), can prove to the Sparks coach, Derek Fisher, how well of a point guard and shooter she can provide for his team, despite her being a rookie.[6] Cooper continues to gain experience and skills from the other players in the Los Angeles Sparks team.[6] Cooper's current average for about 17 minutes in a game consists of making around 7.3 points and having about 2 assists.[7] On August 13, 2020, the Los Angeles Sparks played against the Washington Mystics, leading Cooper to have one of her best games of the season with 10 points (5-of-6 shooting) with 3 assists, all within 19 minutes of playing time.[8]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader
WNBA record

WNBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2020 Los Angeles 20 3 17.0 .451 .344 .765 1.0 2.0 0.7 0.0 1.5 7.0
2021 Los Angeles 31 13 22.0 .379 .324 .750 1.7 1.4 0.9 0.2 1.8 9.1
Career 51 16 20.1 .401 .330 .754 1.5 1.6 0.8 0.1 1.7 8.2

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2020 Los Angeles 1 0 21.0 .250 .500 .000 0.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 3.0 3.0
Career 1 0 21.0 .250 .500 .000 0.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 3.0 3.0

College

Source[9]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
Year Team GP Points FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2015-16 Tennessee 36 311 36.9% 26.0% 72.2% 1.9 2.1 1.2 - 8.6
2016-17 Tennessee Medical redshirt[10]
2017-18 South Carolina Sat due to NCAA transfer rules[10]
2018-19 South Carolina 30 357 42.9% 28.9% 76.2% 2.5 2.2 1.1 0.3 11.9
2019-20 Baylor 30 408 43.8% 41.5% 73.0% 2.3 4.6 1.9 0.1 13.6
Career 96 1076 41.2% 33.2% 74.1% 2.2 2.9 1.4 0.1 11.2

Personal life

Te'a Cooper is the daughter of Omar and Kindall Cooper. She has three siblings: Mia (Imani) and twins Sharife and Omar. Sharife was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 2021.

Te'a dated Dwight Howard and the pair became engaged in 2019. In 2021, Cooper and Howard parted ways. Cooper once dated New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara.[11] Cooper and Kamara welcomed a baby girl, Stori Kamara, on December 25, 2022.

References

  1. ^ "2020 WNBA Draft Profile: Te'a Cooper". wnba.com. Women's National Basketball Association. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  2. ^ Knight, Mandy. "Te'a Cooper's Journey to the WNBA". Fox44news.com. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Te'a Cooper". espn.com. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  4. ^ Maloney, Jack. "2020 WNBA Draft winners and losers: Liberty add Sabrina Ionescu with top pick; Wings land talented trio". cbssports.com. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  5. ^ Bernarowski, John. "Former McEachern standout Te'a Cooper selected by Phoenix in WNBA Draft". mdjonline.com. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d Merchant, Sabreena (2020-07-20). "The Replacements: What can Te'a Cooper and Reshanda Gray bring to the Sparks?". Silver Screen and Roll. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  7. ^ "Sparks guard Te'a Cooper cleared to return following inconclusive COVID-19 test". au.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
  8. ^ "Sparks guard Te'a Cooper making her mark as a rookie". Whittier Daily News. 2020-08-14. Retrieved 2020-10-04.
  9. ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  10. ^ a b HADLEY, GREG (February 22, 2019). "Dawn Staley updates Te'a Cooper's injury status for Tennessee". charlotteobserver.com. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
  11. ^ "Sparks' Te'a Cooper..." yardbarker.com. 28 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.