Michael Cooper has joined the Milwaukee men’s basketball program as the Director of Player Development, head coach Bart Lundy announced today.
Cooper spent the past two years as an assistant on Lundy’s coaching staff at Queens University of Charlotte, helping the Royals to an outstanding two-year stretch.
“Michael spent the past two seasons with me at Queens and I actually first got to know him when we played Northern State in the Final Four four years ago,” Lundy said. “He is unbelievable with the players and extremely organized. He will help to elevate each and every one of our players to a higher level. He is a rising star and we are very fortunate to get him here in Milwaukee.”
The program went 46-10 in those two years, capped by the 2021-22 campaign in which Queens posted a 30-4 record and advanced all the way to the Southeast Regional Championship game. This winter, the team reached as high as No. 4 in the national poll and finished ranked in the Top 25 of the NABC national poll.
Cooper arrived at Queens in October 2020, following two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at Southern Arkansas University. In two years on the staff at Southern Arkansas, the Mulerider’s were 32-26 and appeared in the Great American Conference Championships in back-to-back seasons.
Cooper, a native of Monticello, Minnesota, spent four years as a student assistant at Division II Northern State of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) prior to joining the staff at SAU. While assisting the Wolves men’s basketball program, Cooper directly helped the staff in scouting reports, individual workouts, NCAA Recruiting, digital media and game video, and day-to-day practice and game responsibilities.
During his four years in Aberdeen, South Dakota, NSU compiled an overall record of 102-31 (.766) with an NSIC record of 68-20 (.772). The Wolves won back-to-back NSIC Tournament Championships in 2017-18 and 2018-19, while also appearing in the NCAA Tournament both years as well. The Wolves finished the 2017-18 campaign as NCAA National Runner-Up after claiming the Central Region title behind a South Dakota collegiate single-season record 36 wins (36-3 overall record).
Cooper graduated Northern State in the fall of 2018 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology along with an associate degree in Biotechnology. He earned a Master’s degree in Kinesiology from SAU in May 2020.
