From tragedy to triumph: Inspired by her parents, Olivia Cooper has risen above major adversity to excel in the classroom and on the basketball court

The 6-foot-1 Columbia commit is averaging 10.5 points per game this season

Author:
Aaron Blankenship
Publish date:
Mar 10, 2023 9:56 AM EST

Olivia Cooper has proven to be more versatile than a Swiss Army Knife while leading Pickerington Central to league, district and regional championships this season.

Offensively, the 6-foot-1 senior forward has shown that she’s capable of scoring from anywhere on the court, while averaging 10.5 points and making 50 percent (112 of 224) of her field goals.

Cooper is not only an accurate outside shooter, she’s equally as good at using her height and length to post up on, and score over, smaller defenders inside the paint.

She’s also a deft ball-handler, who uses an array of moves to drive past opponents to score in the lane, or to suddenly dish the ball to open teammates to set up prime scoring opportunities - as she has a team-best 98 assists.

“Olivia’s such a valuable player, because she does so many different things well,” said Central coach Chris Wallace, whose squad is 24-4 overall heading into Friday’s Division I state semifinal against Olmsted Falls (23-3). “She’s very smart and she understands our system so well that she’s become our vocal offensive leader, directing everyone into their positions.

“Olivia plays the point four position, much like LeBron James. She’s a big wing, who can run the point, handle the ball and play in the post equally well.”

Cooper is equally effective defensively, as she’s racked up a team-leading 31 blocks, 29 steals and 210 rebounds, while guarding opponents’ top perimeter and post players equally well.

The Columbia University recruit demonstrated many of her offensive and defensive capabilities, while scoring a game-high 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting to lead the Tigers to a 54-39 victory over Marysville in a regional final March 3 at Otterbein University. Central captured its 14th regional title and will compete in the state tournament for the first time since 2019.

“Olivia’s defense has been key to our success as well,” Wallace said. “If she were playing elsewhere, she could average 20 or more points per game, but that’s not what we ask any of our players to do.

“The intangibles that Olivia provides are what make her most valuable. She’s a great leader and she does what her team needs her to do in any given game to help us win.”

Cooper said she learned the importance of doing whatever it takes to overcome adversity, after her father, Johnny, suddenly suffered a heart attack in his sleep on Christmas night of 2012, and passed away the following morning.

Johnny was a fit, 46-year-old Columbus City firefighter, who enjoyed working out, roller skating and shooting hoops with his children. Olivia wears uniform No. 15 in honor of her father, who spent the majority of his career operating prestigious Ladder 15 for Fire Station 15.

“My dad was my best friend and he’s the one who encouraged me to switch from gymnastics and to start playing basketball when I was seven,” Cooper said. “He was a great father and a kind person, who always remembered people and went out of his way to make them feel good.

“When he passed away, it was definitely the hardest time of my life. Christmas is always the toughest time of year for me and there’s never a time where I forget about him or the tragedy we went through. But I’m grateful, because I learned a lot of good lessons from him, and losing him made me mature faster and see things in a different light. I try to do my best to make him proud.”

Olivia credits her mother, Jessica Cooper, for guiding her family through the tragic loss of her father. Olivia also has an older brother, Johnny, who is a 2020 Central graduate, as well as two older half-sisters, Charise and Jasmine Cooper.

Jasmine played basketball at Central before graduating in 2010, and then playing college basketball at the University of Vermont (2010-11) Slippery Rock University (2011-12) and Central State University (2012-15).

“My mom did an amazing job of raising us as a single parent and a widow,” Olivia said. “It was hard to lose my dad, and it’s something that never really gets any easier, but my mom always encouraged me to grow from the grief, and to always do my best.”

Jessica said she’s equally impressed with the way Olivia responded to the heartbreaking loss of her father.

“Olivia’s a wonderful human being, and she actually teaches me a lot from her actions every day,” Jessica said. “When she was eight, she started a grief counseling group at her school, called Bright Eyes, that met once a month on Fridays during lunchtime, where teachers, students and parents could come talk about their feelings after losing a loved one. It just amazed me that she could come up with and implement something like this as such a young age.”

The Cooper family was forced to deal with major adversity once again in October of 2016, when Jessica - who worked as a detective for the Columbus Police Special Victims Bureau - nearly lost her life in a car accident.

On that fateful day, Jessica was on her way to interview a victim when another driver ran a red light and crashed into the driver’s side of her vehicle.

Jessica had to undergo multiple back and neck surgeries to regain her mobility after the collision, and the lasting effects of her injuries eventually forced her to retire from law enforcement in June of 2017, after nearly 20 years of service.

“I love and respect my mom so much,” Olivia said. “She was in so much pain after that terrible car accident, and she’s still dealing with it, but she puts on a brave face every day, and teaches me so much and inspires me.

“She’s taught me that you can’t use (adversity) as a crutch, and that it’s how you move forward and deal with it that makes you who you are as a person. I give my mom so much credit, because I wouldn’t be the basketball player or person I am without her.”

Jessica, who still deals with chronic neck pain as a result of that accident, said she’s proud of the student athlete and young woman that Olivia has blossomed into.

“I never wanted our kids to use the bad things that have happened to them as an excuse,” Jessica said. “I want those experiences to make them stronger, so that they can take the hard things that come their way and use them as valuable life lessons.

“Olivia’s very intelligent and talented, but she also works very hard to try to do her best. She’s self-motivated and disciplined when it comes to studying and getting her homework done, and she’s a natural leader who is very mature, intuitive and empathetic.

“Olivia’s also a tender-hearted person, who loves to help people.”

Olivia credits Wallace and Central assistant coach Johnathan Hedgepeth for teaching her the fundamentals and finer points of the game over the past 10 years, after she joined their All-Ohio AAU squad as a fourth grader.

In eight seasons, from 2013 to 2021, Hedgepeth led the Tigers to a 170-42 overall record, including a Division I state title in 2018 and a state runner-up finish in 2019.

“They taught me my basic skills in the early days and they’ve continued to help me develop my skills,” Olivia said. “They taught me to believe in myself and to stay aggressive, even after I make a mistake. (Hedgepeth) has been like a father figure to me since my dad passed away, and my coaches have always believed in me and helped me to set up my future.”

Olivia continued to improve her skills while training with Dublin Coffman assistant boys basketball coach Tyrel Jackson in the offseason and she improved her overall athleticism and footwork while playing lacrosse through her freshman year.

Karl Shaw is Olivia’s stepfather, and his oldest son, Justen Shaw, plays lacrosse at Wilmington College, while his younger son, Dominic Shaw, plays football and lacrosse at Central.

“I played lacrosse until my sophomore year because my stepdad and stepbrothers encouraged me to, and it had a big impact on my footwork and overall skill development in basketball,” Olivia said. “I think I definitely could have played college lacrosse at the Division I level if I would have stuck with it, but I love basketball and chose to make it my number one sport.”

Cooper was the Tigers’ first player off the bench her freshman season and she averaged 7.4 points and was honorable mention all-Ohio Capital Conference-Buckeye Division as a starting post player for Central the following season.

“I was very surprised that I became the sixth man on varsity as a freshman,” Olivia said. “It was a great experience, and I bloomed late with my skills and worked really hard to prove myself as a starter as a sophomore. It was an amazing experience and I could see that I had a future with this team.”

Cooper averaged 10.1 points and 6.5 rebounds and was second-team all-OCC-Buckeye and honorable mention all-district her junior season, in which Central finished 20-7 overall after losing to Coffman 53-41 in a regional semifinal.

“It was an amazing season,” Olivia said. “I picked up the role of being a leader. I started scoring more, playing better defense and was a bigger part of the team than I had been in past seasons.”

In fact, Cooper played so well that she racked up a total of 18 different college basketball scholarship offers as she entered her senior season.

After visiting Elon, Kent State and Ohio University, Cooper made a verbal commitment to Columbia while taking an official visit there in October.

Cooper, who has a 4.1 cumulative grade point average, signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at Columbia on November 10. Later this year, Cooper will be reunited with Columbia junior guard Nicole Stevens, a 2020 Central graduate.

“I was blessed with so many offers, but it was very stressful because they all seemed like great places, and I was indecisive because I hate letting people down,” Olivia said. “Columbia has a very diverse and inclusive team, and I already know Nicole. New York’s an amazing city and it’s always been a dream place for me.

“During my visit, it just felt like home and I accepted while I was at dinner with the team. I felt like it was a weight off my shoulders and that I can now just focus on my senior season.”

Cooper said she’s looking forward to the challenge of pushing herself to work harder in the classroom and on the basketball court while attending a prestigious Ivy League school.

“Some people have questioned why I want to pay for school, instead of going for free, but education comes first because playing sports doesn’t last forever,” Olivia said. “I want to get the best education possible, while also improving in basketball skill-wise. I think Columbia will push me to be a top-level player and student.

“I’m excited to meet new people and learn new things. I want to grow as a person and find myself. I’m not ready to declare my major, but I could see myself becoming a sports psychologist because I love sports and I love helping people.”

But before Cooper moves to New York, the first-team District 11, first-team all-OCC-Buckeye and third-team all-district selection is focused on taking care of some unfinished business at Central.

“I love my teammates and my coaches and going to Dayton to compete in the state tournament is an amazing experience that we’ve all been looking forward to since my freshman year,” Olivia said. “Everything that I’ve been through has just given me big motivation to work even harder to get to this point, because I want to do my best – not just for myself – but for my family and team.

“I love the idea that my dad’s watching over me, because if I can win a state championship in my last high school game, I know that he’ll be so proud.”