Published: June 19, 2007 11:56 pm      

Former basketball star will guide A&M-Commerce

COMMERCE — He was a high-flying dunker on the basketball court for the Paris Wildcats and the Texas Longhorns.

Carlton Cooper hopes to also raise the athletic department at Texas A&M University-Commerce to another level after he was named Tuesday as the Lions’ new athletic director. Cooper had served since 2000 as the senior associate athletic director for internal operations at Southern Methodist University.

“This is an individual who can take our athletic program to great heights,” said Dr. Keith McFarland, A&M-Commerce’s president. “I think we’re poised to move in the right direction. Carlton Cooper has all the tools necessary to make this one of the most successful programs in the country.”

Cooper is succeeding Jim Johnson at the helm of the NCAA Division II program that is in the Lone Star Conference. Johnson left to become commissioner of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

McFarland said A&M-Commerce set out to find a person “who could create a real team among our various athletic coaches.”

“We were looking for a person with very high ethical and moral standards,” said McFarland. “A person who could make sure that we maintain a squeaky-clean program. Squeaky-clean in terms that we don’t play any games with future athletes’ transcripts. Only the highest ethical and moral standards in every thing that we do.

“We were looking for a person who is committed to the concept of the student-athlete, which is key to Division II athletics. We want our student-athletes to come here to get an education. We want them to graduate. And we want an athletic director who feels passionate about that concept. We want someone who can raise money. The source of the athletic budget comes from gate receipts, student fees and gifts from businesses and individuals so it’s essential that this person has the interpersonal skills to get out there and make the acquaintances and raise money,” said McFarland.

Cooper said he was “very, very honored” to be named as the Lions’ new athletic director, calling it an exciting day for himself and his family. Several of his family members attended the press conference, including his wife, Niesje, two of their children, Chanel and Ava, plus his mother, Barbara Cooper of Paris, and his brothers Keith and Bruce.

“This couldn’t have been done...without the help and support of my family,” said Cooper, who also a son, Brandon, and a daughter, Danielle. “They’ve sacrificed a lot. This is a very demanding job. And people who know me know the time that I put in. I put a lot of time in. I work very, very hard.”

Cooper shared a “bit” of his vision as the new athletic director of the Lions.

“My vision is for A&M-Commerce to strive to be a national leader in college athletics,” he said. “The department will be recognized nationally for academic and athletic excellence while professionally and personally developing each and every one of our student-athletes and staff. We will reach out and recognize our past while we build our future.”

Cooper said he’s visited with some of A&M-Commerce’s alumns, including former pro football quarterback Wade Wilson and Arena League star quarterback Clint Dolezel, plus with non-athletes and all have been “very supportive of me and I feel very, very comfortable in becoming the new athletic director here.”

Cooper listed some goals he has for the athletic department, starting with educating and graduating the student-athletes.

“And educate,” he said. “Not just graduate. Win championships. Win championships. Increase revenue. As Dr. McFarland says. That’s something I’m really looking forward to. Increase community relations. That’s very near and dear to me that we be out and involved in the community. Increase attendance. I kind of put them in that order because if you increase community relations you can increase attendance. Facilities enhancement. We need to enhance our facilities.”

McFarland said that Cooper not only talks the talk on the issue of education but also walks the walk. Cooper got his bachelor’s degree in four years while playing basketball for the University of Texas from 1981-85 and then obtained his master’s from SMU in 2001.

Cooper was drafted in the sixth round by the Dallas Mavericks in 1985 and was a player-coach in the Netherlands, Philippines and New Zealand from 1986-1994 before returning to his hometown to coach basketball at Paris High School from 1994-1996. He went to SMU in 1998, first serving as community relations director.