West Liberty Women's Basketball Camp
Head Coach Kyle Cooper
Heading into his sixth season as head women’s basketball coach at West Liberty University, Kyle Cooper is looking to build on the momentum of another 21-win season that saw the Hilltoppers rank near the top of the national charts in several offensive categories.
Cooper’s 2021-22 squad just missed its second NCAA Division II Tournament berth in the past four seasons. The Black and Gold notched a third-place finish in the 12-team Mountain East Conference during the regular season and finished with a 21-9 mark after falling in the MEC Tournament semifinals to eventual tournament champion Charleston.
There was no lack of bright spots in the post-season report. Cooper’s high-powered offense ranked No. 2 in the nation with an average of 82.3 ppg. while also ranking among the Top 10 nationally in field goal percentage, 3-point field goals and 3-point field goals/game. All-American point guard Audrey Tingle made national headlines with an NCAA Division II season record 6 triple-doubles and was the only NCAA woman at any level to finish the year with 300+ rebounds and 200+ assists. Tingle was also honored as the 2022 NCAA Division II Academic All-American of the Year for women’s basketball.
Cooper (75-61, .551) is no stranger to sideline success. After four years as lead assistant for the WLU women under legendary head coach Lynn Ullom, Cooper took the reins when Ullom stepped down to accept the role of full-time athletic director. West Liberty went 82-45 (.646) during Cooper’s four years as an assistant with three 20-win seasons.
Back-to-back MEC titles in 2015 and 2016 highlighted that run. The aforementioned 2016 squad set a school record by going 29-5 and spent the entire season ranked in the USA Today coaches’ Top 25, finishing at No. 18 after the first “Sweet 16” run in school history.
Cooper caught the coaching bug during his 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 years (2007-10) as head student manager and graduate assistant for Coach Mike Carey with the WVU women’s basketball team. The WVU women advanced to post-season play all four years, earning three trips to the NCAA Tournament and a WNIT berth.
Cooper left Morgantown in 2010 to serve as Director of Women’s Basketball Operations for head coach Semeka Randall 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.
Cooper graduated summa cum laude from WVU 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 Wellsburg, W.Va. with their children, Brody and Cali.
