Boys Hoops: CJ Cooper says yes to UTEP

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La Verne Lutheran senior point guard CJ Cooper has given his verbal commitment to the University of Texas El Paso after meeting coach Tim Floyd on a recent recruiting trip. Cooper, arguably the best returning boys hoops player in the area, helped the Trojans win two CIF titles in the past three years, including a state title earlier this this.

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  • Lut Fan

    Congrats to CJ Cooper for all of his hard work and nothing but the best of luck at UTEP Go Miners!

  • Voice of the Trojans

    Congratulations to CJ Cooper and also to Tim Floyd. Coach Floyd, CJ will make you happy you recruited him.

    There are four more seniors on the Trojan roster:

    Xavier Jones, 6-8 Forward

    Bruce English, 6-2 Guard

    Alec Terry, 6-7 Forward

    and

    Kevin Payne, 6-2 Guard

    I expect each of these players to receive scholarships to continue their educations and basketball careers as well.

  • How to save on college costs by coaching your kid

    Voice of the Trojans

    English is maybe 5’9 at best. I’m 6 foot snd can easily see the top of his head. Remarkable hops and a decent ball handler with a very consistent jumper Bruce lacks point guard skills at this point of his career.

    No hate but he’s no Will Bynum who went to the University of Arizona and sat but rebounded nicely after transferring out. How many levels down is English from Jordan Farmar for that matter. Bynum was a true high school phenom,as was Farmar, Bruce is average at best compared to their next level talent.

    LVL is so exaggerated it’s not funny. BTW Cooper is not the area’s best local talent.

    Seems the new trend in sports is to coach your kid to a scholarship at the expense of all others. Won’t name mames but it’s easy to figure out. Heck even Joe Montana got into the Father Knows Best drama.

    Sad for LVL students who had their high school athletics hijacked so the Coopers and the Murrays could get their agendas addressed.

    Isn’t it remarkable that the Murrays, who benefitted so much from the Glendora program, have yet to coach there. Oh well. I guess all the LVL renovations will be put on hold indefinitely. What a joke that was.

    Sad day for sure.

  • SGV Lifer

    Very happy for CJ and the Cooper family! There is no question that he will be an asset to the UTEP squad. Good luck, but first make sure that you help us win another State Championship!

  • sgv hoop

    Cooper deserves the congrats on a great accomplishment, agree on English not 6’2″ but he jumps out of the gym. Fred how about the other kids, Adams, Miller, Smith from last year where are they now? Northrop has same or better stats, awards, game and size as CJ, where is he going and is also returning.

  • Lut Fan

    to voice of the Trojans,Lut Fan said:FYI CJ Cooper is not the coaches son but his nephew, Eric Cooper jr. is please before commenting try to be accurate! Bruce English is not not 5-9 more like 6-1 legit per his doctors medical release, just so you know CJ is 6ft and Bruce is diffidently taller!Stop the hating and be more accurate,you are diffidently in tile to your opinion , hating is demeaning and lack of class !

  • Voice of the Trojans

    Lut fan…slow your roll there pal.

    I am not the one hating on the Trojans. Some sad, bitter individual was addressing me and used my handle to make a point. I know just how tall all the players at LVL are on a first-hand basis. I see these guys all the time.

    If you haven’t figured it out I am the game announcer…hence the name “Voice of the Trojans”.

    In the last few months I have seen some incredible improvement in many of the current players.

    I have seen some very good freshmen who will make an impact sooner rather than later.

    I have seen many college coaches hanging around at the practices. Heck UCLA has an assistant coach there almost every time I walk into the gym and Ben Howland has also stopped in. I had a nice chat with Tim Floyd from UTEP and Steve Wojciechowski from Duke a few weeks ago.

    So to the individual who claims that LVL is exagerrated…who claims that English is only 5-9 and who downplays CJ Cooper…YOU ARE DEAD WRONG.

  • Agree to disagree

    Sad and bitter?

    Oh okay.If you say so.

    Compare Collison,Westbrook or Farmar to any current LVL player.

    Voice of the Trojan I only ask that you voice some honesty.

    As far as program height in basketball, that’s as old as time. Even NBA players are suspect. Chick Hearn used to be the best at telling like it is.

    Now back to reality. Which player is Duke material?

    Johnny Dawkins? Riddick? Grant Hill? Battier? Is what you’re saying right?

    Now as far as hijacking a school’s athletics for the sake of Cooper’s relatives. Get serious. that didn’t happen? Spin that one!

  • Lut Fan

    Lut Fan to Voice of the Trojan said:now that i read your tread i stand to be corrected and accept my apology for the confusion i know who you are and im sure like wise! we both support these boys equally! Is a shame people use other peoples handle to create confusion and miss information!

  • SGV Lifer

    Hey Haterade “agree to disagree” and “how to save…” who are one and the same, we all know, please go away already! Your rants are tired and idiotic and you are a simple minded buffoon. Cooper was hired to coach the basketball team not unlike hundreds of other coaches that get hired by high schools every year. There were mature administrators that made the decision to hire him and I am sure they weren’t forced to do it at gunpoint. Your use of the word hijacking is an affront to hijackers everywhere and shows just how lame you really are. I mean come on man (or should I say Mame since you are most likely some local kid’s mom?) do you really think that anyone believes that Cooper hijacked the school? He is a qualified basketball man that was hired to deliver results. I think there is no argument about the success of his basketball team and if you knew as much as you think you know, even you couldnt argue about the work that many of his players do in the classroom.

    I would like to know how you think Cooper used the program to benefit his family. Did Coach Cooper play the games for CJ that got UTEP to offer and the other colleges interested? I think not. Did Coach Coop play for Jr. and make all the PAC 10 and the others interested in him too? It must be his super powers of hypnosis or mind control that made these coaches travel from Duke, UNC, Kentucky, Wake Forrest, UCLA and all the rest of the Pac 10 to come look at Grant and the others? With this much power Cooper could rule the world! Oh yeah, all that money he is making is sure benefitting his family. He can probably buy all of them super sized meals at McDonalds with the money he makes from his involvement with LVL!

    Who said anything about comparing current LVL players to Collison, Westbrook and Farmar? That is retarded. All of them are in the NBA and Collison and Westbrook are well on their way to superstardom and Farmar is a multiple-time NBA champion. None of the current kids on LVL can compare to any of the professional athletes that you have mentioned, but neither can most other HS KIDs in the area. That is so stupid to even go there. Those pros played 4 years of HS, at least 1 year of top level college ball and are in the NBA. There is no comparison.
    Either learn how to argue and debate relevant points or take your sad and bitter anti-cooper and LVL ranting off line. You are a joke, really.

    In closing, why couldn’t you either just say something like, “congrats to CJ” or wish him well? Regardless of your perspective, jealousy, or disdain for Cooper and the LVL program, it is quite an accomplishment for any kid to get a scholarship to college. Can’t you just be happy for the kid? Probably not because you are a bitter, jealous and envious moron.

  • Joe Amat

    I find it funny that out of ALL these offers the Coopers decide on UTEP and Tim Floyd? We all know about Floyd (and have for years even before the USC scandal) This confirms even more my feelings about LVL and how the team was “assembled”. Just wait – you’ll find out soon how Mr Cooper “benefits” form the Floyd association.

  • gamer

    SGV Lifer-well said, period. Simple truth… LVL will never get any respect from the locals cause no locals play there. Cooper is a full time basketball coach not a teacher, he might have a job but he can focus on the program, recruiters. Give the man and the program credit and understand the situtation, as it is different than the publics or even Damien as Dunn is a teacher. Add in the draw is Jarret, he gets the schools to visit and other fine players benifit from the expousure too. That’s not happening elsewhere. CJ-great job and good luck.

  • SGV Lifer

    Joe Amat:

    I didn’t write that CJ had “ALL these offers”. I believe I wrote, “got UTEP to offer and the other colleges interested?” Not being a close confidant of the Cooper family, despite my vociferous defense of them on these posts, I think their decision making process related more about the fact that UTEP has a roster with 8 or more seniors, plays in a tough conference, has a great basketball facility, a great coach and would be the best spot for the kid. I doubt very seriously that they chose UTEP because of some “benefits”, present or future, that Coach Cooper would get form [sic] “the Floyd association”.

    How was the team assembled? Coach Cooper took a team from scratch with his nephew, CJ as a freshman and a couple of other kids he coached since they were like 8 year olds! Others came; apparently according to the rules since there have been no sanctions against the school, team or the coach, to play with a winner. Many other teams in football and basketball in the SGV have had teams that were “assembled” the same way. As long as kids don’t get whacked by the CIF (which is a whole other story because all you have to do is say “boo” to them or mention the words “lawyer” or “lawsuit” and they will cave and reverse themselves in a New York second) it doesn’t really matter how the team is assembled. Since we are smack in the middle of a great football season, how about how Amat’s football team was “assembled”? Don’t they have 2 transfers from South Hills, one of which is on like his 5th high school in four years and God only knows how many others that have helped them to the great start they are having?

  • Joe Amat

    Missed in that last comment was best wishes to CJ. Any time an athlete can use athletics to get an education – that’s a good thing. Take advantage of the opportunity.

    I just have ZERO respect for Tim Floyd (who I’ve met and had conversations with-so don’t go there). It would not be my choice to have any association with the man. Where there’s smoke – there’s fire.

  • Joe Amat

    SGV Lifer,

    What I can guarantee is that Amat was not assembled with kids the coaches have coached “since they were 8″. Parents send there kids to the school for a combination of the academic/religious/social/athletic reasons – and have for years. It didn’t come out of the blue when a particular coach shows up nor will it end when that particular coach parlays it into greener pastures.

    Transfers are part of the sport – but encouraging kids to attend a school from several cities away and take public transportation to get there, passing better schools and more established programs along the way, because they were on your travel team may have cut the mustard by the “letter of the rule” but not the “spirit of the rule”.

    You know as well as I that THAT is the reason no locals play LVL. Has nothing to do with ability to compete or some perceived jealousy – it has everything to do with how the team “was assembled”

  • big words scare you

    SGV LIfer

    Maybe if you were in possession of a college degree you would be able to have a conversation where words don’t offend or scare you.

    Hijacking a program is what the Cooper’s did.

  • SGV Lifer

    umm, big words scare me? Not so much. The person to whom I was directing my posts didn’t use any big words. As for your comment, “if” I was in possession of a college degree words wouldn’t scare me, I would like to know if you know whether or not I have a college degree?

  • SPARTAN

    To Joe Amat

    I beleive what Coach Cooper is doing should be commended. Yea you can say hes brought in his travel team but he has also given many of his kids the chance to play college ball.

    He has given his kids the exposure they need to be seen by the big time colleges. He has even taken our very own Chris Reyes and made him into a top 50 recruit in the class of 2012. Before Coach Cooper no one knew of Chris Reyes.

    Joe Amat you can only wish of getting someone like Coach Cooper over at Amat. You guys have the best player that no one has heard about. Daniel Rodriguez is one of the top players in the area and he belongs right next to LVL English and CJ. But he needs someone like Coach Cooper to get his name out there.

    Last year I played travel ball with some of the best players in the area. SGV has some real talented players, we need someone like Coach Cooper to expose our area

  • best of luck

    SPARTAN.

    No one knew of Chris Reyes? Come on! He’s carried that team of none dribbling one dimensional players to the best records Damien has ever had. Where is Chris Adams today even after all those sweet 3′s? The kid couldn’t dribble with both hands and had limited defensive skills, think of a poor man’s Adam Morrison (the NBA version). Reyes will break almost every single relevent Damien record before he’s done and. Cooper’s hijacking of LVL’s Basketbal program took place with some well heeled residents up on the hill. If you actually lived in the area you’d know of whom I speak. NC’s dad went a long way to funding said program and luckily for everyone he’s grown into a fine young man and an aweosme competitor. No slight there at all.

    BTW what happened to the Varsity players the year before Cooper’s invasion? Matter of fact has any spot been opened for any LVL student or is this Traveling Show for pay for play members only?

    Wish any kid the best for a college scholarship but please don’t rewrite local history. Some of us actually have to live in the City once he’s gone, and he will be gone soon.

  • Joe Amat

    Spartan,

    Don;t get me started on our basketball situation over here. It is as bad as football was during the previous coach – just fewer people care. We had a good coach and screwed that one up. Won one CIF championship and mighta had another 1 or 2 trips deep if we kept him. Woulda won last season for sure for a bunch of reasons.

  • SPARTAN

    To best of luck,
    Chris Reyes is a good player who is becoming great. His name is known around here but on the travel scene it was non exsistent until he started playing for Coach Cooper and Belmont Shores.
    Recruiting has change. The HS game doesn’t seem to matter anymore. Now all the college coaches gather in vegas as top talent players are displayed in front of them. Coach Cooper seems to understand that this is a year round commitment. This benefits his players as he is able to make the connections needed to get players like Chris Reyes reconized.

    Joe Amat I don’t think anyone was going to top Price last year. You guys made a game out of it. Price killed LVL by 34 the previous month. Your coach did recruit Goldston, Hudson, and Rodriguez. With some luck this year Rodriguez should be able to carry you guys deep again.

    There are numerous talented players in the SGV that don’t go to LVL such as James Northrup Bonita I just hope that their HS coaches do as much for them as Coach Cooper is doing at LVL

  • From One Spartan to Another

    Amen Damien Spartan! There are lots of good players in the valley and all should be commended. The work that Coop and many other coaches do for these boys should also be commended.

    There is no room for jealousy, envy and hate.

    Nicely done.

  • lion fan
  • Lut Fan

    Congrats Bruce English on committing to LMU #1recruit, over USC,Colorado,Perperdine,UCI, Montana st. your great work in the classroom has given you a opportunity to play at a high academic school and a up and coming D1 school!

  • SGV Lifer

    Congrats to little “5’9″ Bruce English! Keep banging out those audacious (oops, i just scared myself with the big word Mrs. Glendora apologist and LVL hater) dunks!

    Get that parchment (oops, another big word. Let me explain that to you non-degree holder in Glendora: Parchment is slang for a degree from an institution of higher learning that is traditionally bestowed upon a graduate and written or printed upon a certain quality of paper known as parchment)

    Perhaps Xavier Jones will be the next senior at LVL to announce a choice of college and then we can listen to Mrs. Glendora aka LVL hater blame Cooper and the Murrays for Xs success? The fact is, this kid is 6’7″ and chiseled out of granite and happens to be the student body president and a 4.0 student that wants to be a doctor. Maybe West Point will be calling and offering a scholarship soon? I am sure Nostradamus Cooper has used his mind control to coerce Xs teachers to give him As on his report card and to get West Point and the other institutions of higher learning to be interested in the big fella.

    I just cant wait for the tired rebuttal from the foothills. I would imagine it will read something like, Waaaaahhhh waaaaaahh waaaaahhhh. Cooper hijacked the school and is doing everything for the benefit of his family and blah blah blah, it’s a shame etc…..”