Some people strive on adversity, and Cooper Long is no exception. This became very evident as Long shared the story of his “first basketball practice” freshman year. Apparently, “coach had just given the don’t play like a freshman speech,” and right after that, Long “got dunked on.” He said that the experience only made him “work harder to make sure that will not happen again” and to “prove” himself.
We also found that Long named his teammate “Brennen Yust” as having had the most significant impact on him for precisely the same reason. “In the off-season,” the duo would “play pick-up basketball.” Where Yust would “destroy” Long, making him “look forward” to the next time they played so Yust could push him to be better.
Of course, his antics seem to have worked, and his favorite memory is winning last year’s game against Aurora. He gushed that “they were seeded higher,” and the team still pulled out a “13” point victory. As he himself “dropped 27 points” and was able to play the game and have fun at the same time.
This year he is focusing all his effort on winning “a district championship” and receiving first-
team “all-conference” and “all-district.” Long also hopes to graduate with at least a 3.3 GPA.
