Cooper-Dyke Leaves Texas Southern for USC
SWAC.org
HOUSTON -- On the heels of a season the saw her lead Texas Southern to a Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season title, Cynthia Cooper-Dyke is headed back to her alma mater. On Thursday, the University of Southern California announced the hiring of Cooper-Dyke as its new head women’s basketball coach.
Cooper-Dyke, who played on two NCAA championship teams at USC and starred in the WNBA, replaces Michael Cooper, whose USC team finished 11-20 last season.
“Texas Southern University is ecstatic for the opportunity Coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke has to take over the USC women’s basketball program,” said TSU Director of Athletics Dr. Charles McClelland. “When we brought Coach Cooper-Dyke into our athletics program we asked her to recruit quality student-athletes, assist them with their progress towards graduation, and win championships. She was able to accomplish all of those goals during her first year at Texas Southern.”
“We’re extremely sad to see her leave but we’re very excited about the foundation that our women’s basketball program has built under her leadership and we look forward to our program continuing to succeed in the classroom and on the court.”
Cooper-Dyke turned a TSU program that had finished a dismal 5-26 in 2012 around and guided the Lady Tigers to their first-ever SWAC regular season championship with a 16-2 league record. TSU advanced to the SWAC tournament semifinals and earned its first-ever WNIT berth. At 20-12 overall, the Lady Tigers set school records for season victories (20) and consecutive wins (15).
“This is a great opportunity for me but I will miss Texas Southern,” said Cooper-Dyke. “I’m excited for the opportunity to go back to California and coach at my alma mater where I have so many fond memories, where I grew up as a person, as a woman, and as a basketball player.”
Cooper-Dyke played for USC's 1983 and 1984 national championship teams, won an Olympic gold medal in 1988 and helped lead the Houston Comets to four consecutive WNBA titles. She was inducted into Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.
According to officials at TSU, a national search to find the next head women’s basketball coach will begin immediately.