Donell "D. J." Cooper Jr. (born December 6, 1990) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player for Ironi Ness Ziona of the

Israeli Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional sports, professional competition in Israeli sports club, club basketball, making ...

. After a successful four years of

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

, Cooper entered the 2013 NBA draft but was not selected in the draft's two rounds. As a player at Ohio University, Cooper cracked the top 25 all-time Division I assists leaders list early in his final season and steadily rose up on the record as the season has progressed. He was named the preseason Mid-American Conference Player of the Year by the league's media, a prediction which proved correct when he was named Player of the Year after the regular season.Ohio's Cooper, Akron's Dambrot Receive Top MAC Honors
. Mid-American Conference. March 13, 2013. Retrieved on March 13, 2013. In 2021-22, he led the

in both assists per game and steals per game.

Early life

Cooper grew up in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area and spent his first three years of high school at

Hales Franciscan High School Hales Franciscan High School (known simply as Hales) was a private Catholic high school located in the Bronzeville neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. It was part of the Archdiocese of Chicago. Background Since its founding, Hal ...

.Catching up with Seton grad D.J. Cooper at Ohio: Mr. D.J. music to Bobcats' ears
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' (Helfgot, Mike). March 8, 2010. Retrieved on January 31, 2013. By the time he was a senior, and after transferring to

Seton Academy Seton may refer to: People * Seton (surname), people with the surname ''Seton'' * Seton Airlie (1920—2008), Scottish professional footballer * Seton Beresford (1868—1928), English first-class cricketer * Seton Daunt, guitar player and songwri ...

, Cooper began to get national recognition. He was named a

McDonald's All-America The McDonald's All-American Game is the all-star basketball game played each year for American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates. Consisting of the top players, each team plays a single exhibition game after the conc ...

nominee and ranked as the 30th best player overall by

ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...

for the class of 2009.D. J. Cooper bio
. Ohio Bobcats. Retrieved on January 31, 2013. Cooper averaged approximately 16 points and seven assists per game and led Seton Academy to the school's first-ever state championship in any sport when they won Illinois' Class 2A state title. Cooper was recruited by some major Division I colleges such as Baylor. He ultimately chose to play for

, a mid-major Division I school, and head coach

John Groce John Gordon Groce (; born September 7, 1971) is an American college basketball coach, currently the head coach for the Akron Zips men's basketball team. Prior to coaching for Akron, he was the head coach at Illinois and Ohio. Coaching career P ...

because Cooper "wanted to feel like ewas someone's main priority", which Groce made him feel. He then signed with Ohio and enrolled in the fall of 2009.

College career

Cooper made an immediate impact as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

in 2009–10. He averaged 13.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.5 steals per game.D. J. Cooper Statistics
sports-reference.com. Retrieved on January 31, 2013. He finished 11th in scoring and 17th in rebounding in the MAC, while his steals and assists ranked him 5th and 7th nationally. He was named the MAC Freshman of the Year while also helping the Bobcats upset the #3-seeded

Georgetown Hoyas The Georgetown Hoyas are the collegiate athletics teams that officially represent Georgetown University, located in Washington, D.C. Georgetown's athletics department fields 23 men's and women's varsity level teams and competes at the National C ...

in the first round of the

2010 NCAA tournament The 2010 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 65 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2009–10 basketball seas ...

. No player in the conference recorded more minutes played than Cooper all year and he also set new school records in single-season steals (93) and assists (218). Heading into his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

campaign, Cooper was tabbed as the MAC Preseason Player of the Year. Although he didn't win the award, he was still a first team all-conference selection after breaking his own school record for assists (263), while his 7.5 assists-per-game average ranked third nationally. In a game against the

Miami RedHawks The Miami RedHawks are the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Miami is a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East Divis ...

he scored his 1,000th career point; in another game against the

Akron Zips Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

, he almost recorded a

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

with 25 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. The team earned a postseason bid to that year's CollegeInsider.com Tournament. They lost in the quarterfinals, however. Cooper's

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

year saw him burst onto the national scene during the 2012 NCAA tournament. The #13-seed Bobcats scored two upsets en route to the school's third ever Sweet 16 appearance. They upset #4-seed

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

and then took down #12-seed

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

before finally succumbing to #1-seed

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. Earlier in the season, Cooper recorded Ohio University's first-ever triple double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a win at

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. He was named a finalist for both the Cousy Award and

Lute Olson Award The Lute Olson Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award was established in 2010 and is named for former Arizona Wildcats head coach Lute Olson Robert Lut ...

; at the end of the season Cooper already held the school record for career assists and needed only one more steal to surpass that record as well. He was also named a first team all-conference performer for the second year in a row.

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

college basketball analyst

Jay Bilas Jay Scot Bilas (born December 24, 1963) is an American college basketball analyst who currently works for ESPN. Bilas is a former professional basketball player and coach who played for and served as an assistant under Mike Krzyzewski at Duke Uni ...

dubbed him as one of the best passers in the nation during Bilas' Weekly Report segment on January 29, 2013.ESPN's Jay Bilas Names D.J. Cooper As Best Passer In the Nation
. Ohio University. January 29, 2013. Retrieved on January 31, 2013. He said of Cooper, can score, he can dish, does a great job off the pick and roll and always seems to make the right decision. He can absolutely pass it, but more important than that, he can absolutely play. He's among the best point guards in the country." On March 5, 2013, Cooper scored 24 points at Buffalo to become the only player in the history of college basketball to record 2,000 points, 900 assists, 600 rebounds and 300 steals in a career. Six days later he was named to the All-MAC First Team for the third consecutive year. Cooper finished his collegiate career with 934 assists and 328 steals, which at the time of his graduation ranked him 12th and 18th all-time, respectively, in Division I history. On March 13, 2013, Cooper was named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year. On April 5, 2013, Cooper was announced the East Perfect Player of the Game in the Reese's Division I College All-Star Game. He recorded 11 points, 9 assists, and 4 rebounds in 30 minutes.

Statistics

Professional career

2013-15

After going

undrafted In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in the 2013 NBA draft, Cooper signed his first professional contract in August 2013, with the

Greek Basket League The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

's PAOK for the 2013–14 season. On August 18, 2014, he signed with

Enisey Krasnoyarsk BC Enisey (russian: БК Енисей) is a Russian professional basketball team from the city of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia. Since the 2011–12 season, Enisey plays its national domestic league games in the VTB United League. The team colors ...

of Russia for the 2014–15 season. On May 12, 2015, he signed with the Greek club

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

for the rest of the

2014–15 Greek Basket League The 2014–15 Greek Basket League was the 75th season of the Greek Basket League, the highest tier professional basketball league in Greece. The season started on October 12, 2014 and ended June 14, 2015. Olympiacos won the title, after they bea ...

season. On August 1, 2015, he signed with Krasny Oktyabr of Russia. On November 21, 2015, he left the Russian club and signed a two-year contract with

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

of Greece. He left AEK after appearing in seven games. On January 25, 2016, he signed with

AS Monaco Basket Association Sportive de Monaco Basketball Club, commonly referred to as A.S. Monaco Basket, is a French-registered Monaco-based professional basketball club. They are a part of the Monaco-based multi-sports club of A.S. Monaco, which was foun ...

for the rest of the season.

2016-18

On August 8, 2016, Cooper signed with

Élan Béarnais Pau-Orthez Elan Corporation plc was a major drugs firm based in Dublin, Ireland, which had major interests in the United States. It was listed on the New York Stock Exchange as ELN, the Irish Stock Exchange as ELN.I, and the London Stock Exchange as ELN. ...

of France. Cooper was the assists leader in the

2016–17 Pro A season The 2016–17 Pro A season was the 95th season of the Pro A, the top basketball league in France organised by the Ligue Nationale de Basket (LNB). The season started on 24 September 2016 and ended on 24 June 2017. A total of 330 games were played ...

, and after the regular season he was named the competition's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

. On July 8, 2017, Cooper signed a two-year deal with French club

BCM Gravelines Basket Club Maritime Gravelines-Dunkerque, commonly referred to as BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque, is a French professional basketball club based in Gravelines. They currently play in the Pro A, the highest professional league in France. The team plays ...

. On October 16, 2017, he parted ways with Gravelines after appearing in four games. Three days later, he returned to AS Monaco. After averaging 6.9 points and 7.2 assists per game in the 2017–18 season, Cooper announced he was leaving Monaco on September 7, 2018.

2020-present

On June 10, 2020, Cooper signed with

Élan Chalon Élan Sportif Chalonnais, commonly known as Élan Chalon, is a French professional basketball club that is based in Chalon-sur-Saône, France. The team's main colors are red and white, and their mascot is a moose. The team's home arena is called ...

of the

LNB Pro A The LNB Pro A, currently known for sponsorship reasons as Betclic Élite, is the top-tier men's professional basketball league in France. The competition has existed since 1921. Since 1987, the Ligue Nationale de Basket has governed the league. ...

in France. He parted ways with the team on October 8, after appearing in three games and averaging 9.6 points and 6.6 assists per game. On November 3, Cooper signed with the

Dorados de Chihuahua Dorados de Chihuahua (English: Chihuahua Goldens) are a refounded baseball team from the city of Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Chihuahua. Recently, the Tuneros de San Luis moved to Chihuahua and took the Dorados namesake, which also brought the LMB (AAA ...

of the

Liga Nacional de Baloncesto Profesional The National Professional Basketball League ( or LNBP) is the top professional basketball league in Mexico. The league was founded in 2000 with 10 teams. Despite its short history, the LNBP has established itself as the one of the most important ...

in Mexico; he played two games for them. On December 14, 2020, he signed with

Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski, also known as Arged BM Slam Stal Ostrów Wielkopolski for sponsorship reasons, is a Polish basketball team, based in Ostrów Wielkopolski. They play in the Polish Basketball League (PLK) since its promotion back in 2015 ...

in Poland, but he left them on December 23. On February 25, 2021, he signed signed with

Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk Football Club Dnipro ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб «Дніпро́», ) was a Ukrainian football club based in Dnipro. The club was owned by the Privat Group that also owns BC Dnipro and Budivelnyk Kyiv. In 2018 FC Dnipro was forced in ...

in Ukraine. The

Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague The Ukrainian Basketball SuperLeague (USL) ( uk, Українська баскетбольна суперліга) is the first-tier level of professional basketball league in Ukraine. Established in 1992, the league is currently contested by 10 c ...

paused in March 2022. Cooper then signed with

Bnei Herzliya Basket Bnei Herzliya Basket (, lit. ''Sons of Herzliya''), is a professional basketball club that is based in Herzliya, in the Sharon district in Israel. The club plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the top division of Israeli basketball. It ...

in the

. In the 2021-22 season, he led the league in assist average, averaging 10.2 per game, and in steals average, at 2.4 per game. On July 5, 2022, he signed with Ironi Ness Ziona of the

Suspension

In 2019, FIBA issued Cooper a two-year suspension for using another person's urine in an attempt to cheat a doping test. The test initially indicated an elevated level of

human chorionic gonadotropin Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a hormone for the maternal recognition of pregnancy produced by trophoblast cells that are surrounding a growing embryo (syncytiotrophoblast initially), which eventually forms the placenta after implantation ...

, which is most commonly produced by the

placenta The placenta is a temporary embryonic and later fetal organ that begins developing from the blastocyst shortly after implantation. It plays critical roles in facilitating nutrient, gas and waste exchange between the physically separate mater ...

during pregnancy. That urine, according to the report, actually belonged to his girlfriend.

National team career

Cooper applied for

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and He ...

n citizenship in 2014. He was named a member of the senior men's

Bosnian national basketball team The Bosnia and Herzegovina men's national basketball team ( Bosnian: ''Košarkaška reprezentacija Bosne i Hercegovine'' / Кошаркашка репрезентација Босне и Херцеговине) represents Bosnia and Herzegovina ...

, and was going to play with Bosnia at the

EuroBasket 2015 qualification This article describes the qualification procedure for EuroBasket 2015. Qualification format In the first qualifying round, 13 teams which didn't qualify for EuroBasket 2013 have been divided into four groups. The winners of each group advance ...

tournament. However, he first left Bosnia for a family emergency. After his return, he suffered an injury during Bosnia's training camp, and he was unable to play at the qualification tournament. Ultimately, his Bosnian citizenship was never processed, according to

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. Originally known as the (hence FIBA), in 1989 it dropped the word ''amateur'' from its na ...

Career statistics

Domestic leagues

Regular season

, - , 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;", PAOK , style="text-align:left;", GBL , 26 , , 30.5 , , .531 , , .317 , , .783 , , 4.8 , , 6.6 , , 1.6 , , 0.0 , , 10.6

Playoffs

, - , 2013–14 , style="text-align:left;", PAOK , style="text-align:left;", GBL , 9 , , 30.5 , , .545 , , .285 , , .757 , , 3.9 , , 6.2 , , 1.9 , , 0.2 , , 10.7 , - , 2014–15 , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", GBL , 8 , , 15.0 , , .600 , , .235 , , .333 , , 2.5 , , 2.5 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 3.4

References

External links

Draftexpess profileEurocup profileEurobasket.com profileGreek Basket League profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, D. J. 1990 births Living people AEK B.C. players American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in Monaco American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Ukraine American men's basketball players AS Monaco Basket players Basketball players from Chicago BC Dnipro players BC Enisey players BC Krasny Oktyabr players BCM Gravelines players Dorados de Chihuahua (LNBP) players Élan Béarnais players Élan Chalon players Ironi Nes Ziona B.C. players Ohio Bobcats men's basketball players Panathinaikos B.C. players P.A.O.K. BC players Point guards