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‘An awesome experience’ for Cooper Neese
Despite falling short of finals, Clover enjoys national competition
If Cooper Neese’s English teacher at Cloverdale assigns an essay this week on the topic of “What I Did on Spring Break,” his subject matter would be hard to top.
The Clover senior took a rare break from basketball early last week and spent a few days relaxing in Mexico, then jetted to Phoenix for the American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships.
Competing in the 3-point competition, the Butler-bound Neese scored 19 of a possible 30 points in the first round to lead the field of eight competitors — who are headed to such basketball powerhouses as Arizona, Kentucky, Louisville, Alabama, Duke and Oklahoma.
Contestants got one minute to attempt 25 shots from 3-point range, with the last ball on each of the five racks being a black basketball sponsored by the U.S. Marines. The “bonus ball” counted for two points, while the others were one point each.
Neese’s total dropped off to 13 points for the second round, however, and he missed qualifying for the two-man final round.
“The first round went really well and it felt good,” he said. “In the second round, a lot of the shots went in and out. Then I dropped one of the balls on the last rack, and that cost me some time because I had to go get it.”
Trae Young of Norman, Okla., was the winner of the second round with 27 points and Collin Sexton of Mableton, Ga., was second in the second round with 23.
They both advanced to the finals, with Sexton — headed to Alabama — edging the Oklahoma-bound Young by an 18-15 margin.
Both players had competed in the prestigious McDonald’s All-American Game earlier in the week, along with 3-point competitors Gary Trent Jr. (Duke) and Quade Green (Kentucky).
“It was an awesome experience,” Neese said. “It was just great to be able to compete against guys of that caliber. I want to thank everyone for voting for me and allowing me to go there.”
Neese made several new friends at the competition, which also included a girls’ 3-point contest and a slam dunk competition.
There were also several familiar faces on hand. Jalen Adaway, an uncommitted senior from Logansport, participated in the dunking competition. He and Neese have been teammates on the UA Indy Hoosiers travel team for the past several years.
Despite living in Minnesota, Trent was a member of the Indy Hoosiers team that won the 15-year-old national championship a few years ago.
Kyle Young of Massillon, Ohio, also competed in the dunk competition. He and Neese will be roommates at Butler.
Young and Neese are part of Butler’s incoming recruiting class, which is ranked as the best in program history.
For the second consecutive season, Young earned Associated Press Division I All-Ohio first-team honors. He led his Jackson High School team to the state championship and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
The girls’ 3-point competition was won by Chasity Patterson of Houston, who will play collegiately at Texas. Victor Bailey Jr. of Austin, Texas, won the dunk contest and will play for Oregon next year.
Neese was summoned to serve as a prop for two different dunkers, who both leaped high over his head in a common dunking formation.
“That wasn’t too scary,” he said. “Those guys could jump out of the gym, and I knew there’s no way they would hit us. I wasn’t too worried.”
The competition was broadcast on CBS-TV on Sunday and included a two-and-a-half minute video produced by Intersports, which filmed a day’s worth of footage at Cloverdale last month.
A link to the video, as well as others, is available with this story on www.bannergraphic.com.
“The video was really, really cool,” he said. “The whole experience was unreal,” he said. “It’s something I’ll never forget.”
