Year: 2022

Height: 6-0

Position: PG

High School: East Clarendon (Turbeville, SC)

Recruiting Status: Signed with South Carolina [press release]

Notes:

Recruiting Summary for Talaysia Cooper

first offer: South Carolina (summer 2017)

offers in 2018:

• July: North Carolina
• August: Clemson

offers in 2019:

• January: Ole Miss
• July: East Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville

offers in 2020:

• May: Georgia
• June: Mississippi State
• July: Virginia Tech

offers in 2021:

• April: Tennessee

*also reportedly has an offer or interest from the following: Florida State, Furman, North Carolina A&T, Oregon, Presbyterian, Temple, Wofford

July 17, 2021: announced top seven schools—Duke, Florida State, Georgia, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia Tech

August 29, 2021: reportedly down to four schools—Florida State, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee

October 23, 2021: committed to South Carolina

Articles

East Clarendon High School Student-Athlete Named Gatorade South Carolina Girls Basketball Player of the Year (Gatorade, 5/27/2021)

The 5-foot-11 junior swing player averaged 23.7 points, 12.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists, 4.6 blocks and 2.2 steals this past season in leading the Wolverines to a 10-1 record and the Class 1A state tournament. The South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association’s Class 1A Player of the Year, Cooper has already scored 2,446 points in her high school career. She is the nation’s No. 8 prospect in the Class of 2022 as rated by espnW.

A member of the Young People’s Association at her church, Cooper has volunteered locally as a youth basketball coach. “Talaysia has all the components of an all-around player,” said Chakaris Thomas, head coach at Hemingway High. “She scores, assists, rebounds, blocks shots and makes steals. She has worked hard on being that teammate who controls the floor with her ball-handling and decision-making.”

Cooper has maintained a B average in the classroom. She will begin her senior year of high school this fall.

Cooper is the Morning News Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year (Florence Morning News, 3/17/2018)

Cooper already is drawing interest from some of women’s college basketball’s most successful coaches. Among them is South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, coach of the reigning national champion Gamecocks.

“It’s good that I have college coaches coming in to talk to me, but I also like to keep my grades up before I play basketball,” Cooper said.

Then, Cooper shared what it is about her play that impresses Staley.

“She likes that I’m not selfish with the ball,” Cooper said.

Video