Anchorage Daily News

Luke Cooper's assist total makes your head shake like slamming into a bone-crushing screen.

Forget for a moment that the UAA men's basketball point guard has shattered virtually every passing record in school history, won the conference assist title in each of the last three seasons and leads all of NCAA Division II.

Consider arguably his most impressive statistic -- 776. That's the number of assists the 6-foot senior has compiled in his immaculate career, putting him eighth on the Division II all-time list.

"I don't think people realize the numbers he's putting up," said former Seawolf point guard and current radio analyst Bryan Anderson. "I don't think they understand how difficult and how rare that happens."

Just think how many thousands of men played before Cooper, of Melbourne, Australia. Now imagine the UAA captain ranking among the best.

And he's not even finished.

Cooper is on pace to eclipse the 800 benchmark and move into the top four with six regular- season games remaining, starting tonight when the No. 9 Seawolves (20-4, 11-1) host Montana State-Billings (1-23, 1-12) on campus.

The Aussie leads the nation with 8.6 assists per game and is first in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference by 3.5 assists over Tyler Roberts of Northwest Nazarene.

At this rate Cooper will finish with around 835, making him fourth all-time. The career Division II leader is Demetri Beekman, who handed off a remarkable 1,044 assists from 1990-93 at Assumption College in Worcester, Mass.

Cooper isn't the type to brag about his accomplishments but others sure are.

"He's a shooting guard's dream," said UAA teammate Chris Bryant. "His leadership, quickness, vision, precision passing. He can do it all."

Anderson, a former UAA point guard from 1991-94 who used to own the school single-season assist record (199) before Cooper broke it twice, has watched Cooper every home game for the last four seasons.

Anderson can't believe how easily Cooper has rewritten the UAA record book, doubling the previous career record and racking up 28 double-figure assist totals in 110 games.

"When you're able to get that many assists, it just shows that you're in complete control of that team and that offense," Anderson said. "What's amazing about it is it's not like he penetrates every time he gets the ball and gets his assists that way. A lot of time it's him directing traffic and them running those set plays and he always seems to deliver the ball in the right spot.

"I just don't think people realize how difficult it is to get the ball to the right people at the right time."

That's because Cooper makes it look easy. Just ask Bryant, a senior transfer.

"Considering the time we've had it's been pretty seamless," Bryant said. "He knows how you like the ball and where you want it."

Perhaps the best thing about Cooper is his desire to win. Even though he's emerged as the program's most prolific passer, he's just as valuable as the emotional leader of the Seawolves, playing an average 36.2 minutes per game, most in the GNAC.

"I was talking to him after a game and I said, 'Hey man, nice game you had 13 assists,' " Anderson said. "And he goes, 'Yeah, but I had one turnover.'

"As an ex-point guard that's what I like to hear. That just shows he doesn't care about his own numbers, he's doing what it takes to win. He's a winner. The kid's a winner."

Find assistant sports editor Van Williams online at adn.com/contact/vwilliams or call 257-4335.

PlayerYearAssists

1. Demetri Beekmanm, Assumption 1990-93 1,044

2. Adam Kaufman, Edinboro 1998-01 936

3. Rob Paternostro, S. New Hampshire 1992-95 919

4. Tony Smith, Pfeiffer 1989-92 828

5. Jamie Stevens, Montana State-Billings 1996-99 805

6. Josh Mueller, South Dakota 2002-05 801

7. Steve Ray, Bridgeport 1989-90 785

8. Luke Cooper, UAA 2005-08 776

9. Dan Ward, St. Cloud State 1992-95 774

10. Chris Dunn, W. Virginia State 2003-06 769 NCAA Division II career assists

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