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Cynthia Cooper (basketball)

 
Cynthia Cooper (basketball)

 
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Cynthia Cooper (basketball)
 
 
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Cynthia Lynne Cooper-Dyke (born April 14, 1963 in Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
, Illinois
Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
) is a retired American basketball
Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a basketball through a 10 feet  high hoop under organized rules....
 player who has won championships in college, the Olympics, and in the Women's National Basketball Association
Women's National Basketball Association

The Women's National Basketball Association has 13 teams and is an organization governing a professional basketball league for women in the United States....
 (WNBA). She is considered by many as one of the greatest women's basketball players ever. She played for the Houston Comets
Houston Comets

The Houston Comets was a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Houston, Texas, Texas, United States. Formed in 1997, the team is one of the original eight WNBA teams and won all four championships in the first four years of the league's existence....
 from 1997-2000 and again in 2003.

ough born in Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
, Illinois
Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
, Cooper grew up in South Central Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
. She was married to Brian Dyke in 2000.






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Cynthia Lynne Cooper-Dyke (born April 14, 1963 in Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
, Illinois
Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
) is a retired American basketball
Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a basketball through a 10 feet  high hoop under organized rules....
 player who has won championships in college, the Olympics, and in the Women's National Basketball Association
Women's National Basketball Association

The Women's National Basketball Association has 13 teams and is an organization governing a professional basketball league for women in the United States....
 (WNBA). She is considered by many as one of the greatest women's basketball players ever. She played for the Houston Comets
Houston Comets

The Houston Comets was a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Houston, Texas, Texas, United States. Formed in 1997, the team is one of the original eight WNBA teams and won all four championships in the first four years of the league's existence....
 from 1997-2000 and again in 2003.

Personal

Although born in Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
, Illinois
Illinois

The State of Illinois is a U.S. state of the United States, the 21st to be admitted to the United States. Illinois is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern United States state and the fifth most populous state in the nation....
, Cooper grew up in South Central Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
. She was married to Brian Dyke in 2000. Cynthia is a mother to twins, a son, Brian Jr., and a daughter, Cyan, born June 15, 2002.

In 2000, she published her autobiography
Autobiography

An autobiography is a biography written by its subject . The term was first used by the poet Robert Southey in 1809 in the English language Periodical publication Quarterly Review, but the form goes back to antiquity....
, entitled She Got Game: My Personal Odyssey, which covered her childhood, her basketball career up to that time, and her mother's battle with breast cancer
Breast cancer

Breast cancer is a cancer that starts in the Cell of the breast in women and men. Worldwide, breast cancer is the second most common type of cancer after lung cancer and the fifth most common cause of cancer death....
.

A noted disciplinarian, Cooper has long been well-known for understanding rules.

High school years

She attended Locke High School before enrolling at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private university, nonsectarian, research university located in the University Park, Los Angeles, California neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, California, United States....
.

College years

Cooper was a four-year letter winner at guard for USC from 1982-86. She led the Women of Troy to back-to-back NCAA tournament titles in 1983 and 1984 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).

She graduated from USC in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

International career

Cooper was a member of the gold medalist 1988 US Olympic Women's Basketball Team.

WNBA career

Cooper was voted the WNBA's MVP
WNBA Most Valuable Player Award

The Women's National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player is an annual Women's National Basketball Association award given since the league's 1997 WNBA season....
 in 1997 and 1998 and also won four WNBA Championships
WNBA Finals

The WNBA Finals is the championship series of the Women's National Basketball Association , held in early September and played under a best-of-five playoff format....
 with the Houston Comets
Houston Comets

The Houston Comets was a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Houston, Texas, Texas, United States. Formed in 1997, the team is one of the original eight WNBA teams and won all four championships in the first four years of the league's existence....
. She was named Most Valuable Player in each of those WNBA Finals. During the Comet dynasty, she was a vital part of the triple threat offense with Sheryl Swoopes
Sheryl Swoopes

Sheryl Denise Swoopes is an American professional basketball player who played most recently for the Seattle Storm in the Women's National Basketball Association....
 and Tina Thompson
Tina Thompson

Tina Marie Thompson is a professional basketball player in the Women's National Basketball Association....
. When retired in 2000, Cooper became the first player in WNBA history to score 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 2,500 career points. She scored 30 or more points in 16 of her 120 games and had a 92-game double-figure scoring streak from 1997-2000. She went on to coach the Phoenix Mercury
Phoenix Mercury

The Phoenix Mercury is a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Phoenix, Arizona . The Mercury began in 1997 as one of the league's original eight teams....
 for one and a half seasons.

Cooper returned as an active player in the 2003 season, but announced her final retirement from professional basketball in 2004.

Afterwards, she served as a TV analyst and halftime reporter for the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets are an Major North American professional sports teams basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in National Basketball Association ....
 of the NBA.

College coaching career

In May 2005, Cooper was named the Head Coach of the women's basketball team at Prairie View A&M University.

Cooper's impact at Prairie View was immediate. In just her second season, Cooper led the underdog Panthers to the SWAC
Southwestern Athletic Conference

The Southwestern Athletic Conference is a mid-major list of college athletic conferences headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities in the southern United States....
 tournament title, netting the school its first-ever Women's NCAA Tournament bid.

In January 2008 the NCAA penalized Prairie View for NCAA rules violations committed by Cooper, reducing the number of scholarships for the team. The school was placed on four years' probation for "major violations" in 2005-06 that ranged from Cooper-Dyke giving players small amounts of cash to various forms of unauthorized practices. Cooper also gave players free tickets to Comets game, which is another NCAA infraction.

Hall of Fame

Cooper-Dyke will be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

Vital statistics

  • Position: Guard
    Basketball

    Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a basketball through a 10 feet  high hoop under organized rules....
  • Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
  • College: University of Southern California
    University of Southern California

    The University of Southern California is a private university, nonsectarian, research university located in the University Park, Los Angeles, California neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, California, United States....
  • Team(s): Houston Comets
    Houston Comets

    The Houston Comets was a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Houston, Texas, Texas, United States. Formed in 1997, the team is one of the original eight WNBA teams and won all four championships in the first four years of the league's existence....


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