Anchorage Daily News

So often players receive prestigious awards based on strong regular-season results only to fizzle out in the playoffs. That's not the case with Luke Cooper, though.

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Luke Cooper

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If anything, Cooper has lifted his play for the UAA men's basketball team in the postseason.

Take the recent NCAA Division II West Regional for example. The captain made sure the Seawolves were ready for the opener, a 20-point win over UC San Diego. He held the conference's third-leading scorer to four points in a semifinal victory over Seattle Pacific. And he delivered a playoff career-high 11 assists in the championship game against BYU-Hawaii.

That's why Cooper is an All-American.

The senior point guard has played like an all-star this season and on Monday he was officially inducted into the club, earning second-team All-America honors by Basketball Times magazine.

The news comes on the heels of the 6-foot Aussie winning Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year and being named first team all-conference and first team all-region earlier this month. But nothing compares to being an All-American.

"First team, second team, it doesn't matter. He's one of the top 10 players in the country," UAA coach Rusty Osborne said by cell phone from Springfield, Mass., where the fourth-ranked Seawolves are for the NCAA Division II Elite Eight.

Cooper could not be reached for comment. No doubt he would have deflected the attention as he typically does, passing the credit to his teammates and coaches like a true point guard and opting to focus on Wednesday's quarterfinal game against ninth-ranked California University of Pennsylvania.

Not even Cooper could diminish his special season, though. He is one of only nine players in UAA history to become an All-American, and the first since 2001.

He leads all of Division II with 9.1 assists per game and is second in the nation with a 3.7-1 assist-turnover ratio. He is also one of 16 finalists -- one of just two at the Division II level -- for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard.

The 23-year-old is averaging a career-best 7.8 points per game to help the 28-5 Seawolves set a school record for most wins in a season and reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1988.

"I'm really happy that he's getting this honor. Not only has he done it individually, he's taken his team to the pinnacle," Osborne said. "He leads the country in assists but he's got to be one of the best leaders in the country too."

He's one of the smallest players on the squad, but Cooper has one of the biggest hearts. He plays every possession like his pride is on the line, taking it personally when his man scores and holding teammates accountable to play the same way.

Cooper will go down as the most prolific passer in UAA history and one of the greatest playmakers in NCAA Division II history. With 869 career assists, he ranks fourth on the all-time list and 11th in career average (7.3). This season he has delivered double-figure assist totals 15 times -- including school records of 18 against Saint Martin's and 17 against Montana State Billings -- and 32 times in his career.

"We don't put a lot of emphasis on individual honors, but it's nice for kids to get rewarded if they go out and improve and put in the hard work and make themselves a better player," Osborne said. "He came to us as a kid we were going to redshirt, and now he's worked himself all the way up to becoming an All-American."

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

UAA All-Americans

1984 Jeff Martin (3rd Team)

1987 Hansi Gnad (1st Team)

Jesse Jackson (1st Team)

1989 Michael Johnson (1st Team)

Todd Fisher (3rd Team)

1990 Todd Fisher (1st Team)

1995 Jason Kaiser (3rd Team)

2001 Ed Kirk (3rd Team)

2008 Luke Cooper (2nd Team)

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