West Liberty University President Dr. Stephen Greiner and WLU athletic director Lynn Ullom announced that Kyle Cooper has taken the reins as head women’s basketball coach for the Lady Hilltoppers.
Cooper recently completed his fourth season as a member of West Liberty’s women’s basketball staff, where he served as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator. He replaces Ullom, who stepped down this week after 26 seasons at the helm to accept the role of full-time athletic director.
“I’m excited to have Kyle Cooper as the face of our women’s basketball program,” Ullom said. “Having someone of his talents and abilities already in place made it much more comfortable for me to accept the new role of athletic director.
“Kyle has been an integral part of our success over the past few years. I have been extremely impressed with his tremendous passion for the game and the profession since the day he arrived on campus. Kyle has been a terrific ambassador for the university and his work ethic is second to none. I have no doubt he will be an outstanding head coach and am confident that our women’s basketball program is in very good hands.”
The WLU women have posted three 20-win seasons since Cooper’s arrival on the hilltop and compiled an impressive 82-45 (.646) record during his four seasons with the program.
“It’s a tremendous honor for me to not only step into my first head coaching position but to be handed a program that Coach Ullom has invested his life into,” Cooper said. “I’m truly humbled that Coach Ullom has placed such a level of trust in me to continue building on the tradition of excellence he has established – on the court and in the classroom – at West Liberty. That will motivate me every day I walk through these doors.”
Cooper helped lead the Black and Gold to back-to-back Mountain East Conference championships in 2015 and 2016. The 2016 squad set a school record by going 29-5 and spent the entire season ranked in the USA Today coaches’ Top 25. They finished the season ranked No. 18 nationally after a “Sweet 16” run that included a regional semifinal win against defending national champion California (Pa.).
“I’m extremely excited about this opportunity and will hit the ground running,” Cooper said. “We have a very strong nucleus returning, a group I believe has the ability to do something special, and we are bringing in some outstanding recruits. Having recruited every member of this team, I’m looking forward to a seamless transition as we move forward into preparations for the 2017-18 season.”
Cooper caught the basketball coaching bug during his undergraduate days as a student at West Virginia University. He served as assistant head manager and basketball camp counselor for Coach John Beilein’s Elite 8 and Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament men’s basketball teams during Cooper’s first two years at WVU (2005-06).
The Waterford, Pa. native spent the next four seasons (2007-10) as head student manager and graduate assistant for Coach Mike Carey with the Mountaineers’ women’s basketball program. The WVU women advanced to post-season play all four years, earning three trips to the NCAA Tournament and a WNIT berth.
“I am forever grateful to Coach Carey for pulling me to the women’s side of basketball and his continued support and guidance,” Cooper said. “Not only did it force me to expand my horizons, it also created opportunities for me to form relationships with such dynamic women’s coaches as Joanna Bernabei-McNamee and Semeka Randall that I still hold dear.”
Cooper left Morgantown in 2010 when Coach Randall hired him as Director of Women’s Basketball Operations at Ohio University. He spent one season with the Lady Bobcats before accepting an assistant coaching position at Wheeling Jesuit and came to West Liberty after two years at WJU.
An outstanding student, Cooper graduated summa cum laude from West Virginia in 2008 with dual bachelor’s degrees in Sport Management and Athletic Coaching Education along with a minor in Business Administration. He earned a master’s degree from WVU in Educational Leadership with a focus on Higher Education in 2010.
Kyle and his wife, Katie, are a West Liberty family as Katie is the university’s Director of Financial Aid. They live in Follansbee, W.Va. with their son, Brody.
Tagged with: DII Kyle Cooper West Liberty
