Neese overwhelmed by support

Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Many young Cloverdale students brought signs of encouragement for Cooper Neese to Monday’s pep session.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

Corporation students fill gym to provide backdrop for filming of TV segment

CLOVERDALE — Not many things could draw a high school student away from a spring break vacation trip to Mexico.

But for Cooper Neese, the chance to compete in the American Family 3-Point Championship next month at the Final Four in Phoenix did the trick.

After months of hard work on the basketball court and in the weight room honing his skills and body, Neese will still get a few days of rest and relaxation south of the border early next week. Instead of flying back to Indiana, however, he will be instead diverting to Arizona.

Neese and seven other still-unnamed competitors will compete on March 31, with the taped contest and a special feature segment on each participant to be shown on April 2 on CBS from 3:30-5 p.m.

A crew was at Cloverdale High School on Monday to film interviews with Neese, his father (Jerry) and Clover coach Patrick Rady, as well as a special pep session in which all students in the corporation filled the stands and cheered loudly in support of Neese, who earlier this month led the Clovers to their third straight sectional title and finished his career as the seventh-leading scorer in state history.

Neese’s participation in the contest was made possible by winning four rounds of online fan voting.

Cooper Neese gets a hug from an adoring fan at Monday's pep session.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

The overwhelming support from the Cloverdale tourney — including the team’s season, the voting support and the raucous pep session on Monday — just continues to amaze Neese as each new avenue for their expression of their feelings for him arises.

“It’s been more than special,” he said. “This is more than I could have ever dreamed of. Growing up, all I wanted to do was to play Division I basketball. I have fulfilled that dream, but it’s just adding on and adding on.

“The good Lord is blessing me with each blessing he gives me,” Neese added. “This community is a blessing to me, and everybody who voted for me is a blessing to me.”

Neese has some big shoes to fill, as the past three winners of this particular competition have come from Indiana.

In 2014, Hamilton Southeastern’s Eric Davidson (now playing for Indianapolis) won the title. Purdue standout Ryan Cline of Carmel captured the title in 2015, and last spring eventual Mr. Basketball Kyle Guy of Lawrence Central (now wearing a man-bun for Virginia) took the crown.

Neese feels confident of his chances in the competition, and his performance in Monday’s pep session did nothing to show otherwise.

Neese hit 28 3-pointers in 90 seconds during one of the competitions against teachers and other students, including 20 straight at one point. (He may have been able to do better, but he was wearing dress pants and a bulky battery pack for his microphone.)

In another drill, students of different ages were brought out on the court to compete against each other while taking shots of length comparable to their age and strength.

Cooper Neese eyes the basket while retrieving basketballs from the rack during Monday's pep session.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

Neese was the final shooter in his group, and hadn’t taken a shot for more than 20 minutes when it was his turn. A taped X was placed on the court halfway between the volleyball line and the jump ball circle, and he promptly swished two straight from that distance. Someone from the crowd wanted to see him shoot a halfcourt shot, so he backed up a few feet and effortlessly swished a jump shot from there. Forty-two feet away.

“I feel confident I can do well,” he said. “I have competed with the best of the best."

The competition is similar in format to the NBA contest, in which five racks with five balls each are placed at the “around the world” spots on the court and the contestants have 60 seconds to get off 25 shots.

Neese admits to not having ever shot in that manner, and plans to practice this week several times before taking off on a well-deserved vacation.

“You definitely have to shoot and grab the next ball very quickly,” he said. “You’re definitely multi-tasking, but I think I can do it.”

Neese will be joining the Butler Bulldogs next fall, and gets to fulfill his dream of going in the Final Four even earlier than expected.

“Hopefully my team is there,” he said. “I would love to be able to go there and represent them, and have them to be playing there as well. That will be a special moment.”

Lisa Evans Roeder, Cooper’s mother, was unable to be at Monday’s festivities but shared her thoughts on Facebook earlier in the week.

“There aren’t enough words to express our gratitude for all the help in getting Cooper to Arizona,” she said. “From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, thank you, thank you! Our village is amazing! You are all a part of this and can’t wait to celebrate with you!”

Jerry Neese, Cooper’s father and fellow Clover standout, easily had a lifetime’s worth of interview sessions on Monday and is also appreciative.

“It’s just neat for all the support, and we’re thankful for everyone to help him get to go to Arizona,” he said. “I’m most thankful that he’s kept a good head about it.”

Neese said he thought the film crew was impressed with the way the community supported his son on the big day.

“I think they got a little bit better of a picture on how a small community supports its kids,” he said. “When you get a winning team and program, the support at smaller schools is better than that of much bigger schools.”

Clover coach Patrick Rady is enjoying his final few weeks of having Cooper closeby, and thought Monday was a great day to honor him for all he has accomplished.

“It was a great climax to the season, especially with the voting that went on,” he said. “It was an entire community effort. We had elementary kids come over to vote every day, and our middle school and high school kids all voted.”

Rady values the school environment, and thinks the whole day helped contribute to that.

“It fosters and carries over from this sport to the others,” he said. “We hope this brings pride to all of the other sports and is a springboard to the kids in our community. From a basketball standpoint, it’s great to look at a national stage and see someone from your high school competing. Hopefully it makes our younger guys hungrier and makes them want to work even harder.”

Rady notes Neese’s humble nature as being a big factor why so many people are drawn to him.

“That comes from his upbringing,” he said. “He was brought up learning how to interact with people and that people matter. You can tell that with how he treats you — when you can do that, it makes people want to root for you.”

Kyle Goldhoff is an associate producer with InterSport, a Chicago company hired by CBS to film the segment.

She was impressed with the day’s events, and has a clear understanding of how Neese won the fan voting.

Coach Patrick Rady feeds basketballs to Clover junior Jalen Moore during a shooting contest in Monday’s pep session. A camera crew was on hand to film a segment to be shown on CBS.
Banner Graphic/Joey Bennett

“We do a lot of shoots at small towns like this, and I’ve never seen a town like Cloverdale,” she said. “It goes to show why he won this competition and why he’s going to do well in Phoenix with this support behind him.”

Comments
View 2 comments
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • Way to go, Cooper Neese! What an exceptional role model you are!

    -- Posted by Queen53 on Wed, Mar 22, 2017, at 6:28 AM
  • Cooper is deserving of this love from the Cloverdale community. So heartwarming to see the example he sets for the young boys and girls that idolize him. In this day and age of entitled, cocky athletes.. Cooper has been a pleasure to watch. Well done Neese/Roeder family!🍀

    -- Posted by dodgers on Wed, Mar 22, 2017, at 10:28 AM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: