‘She Knows Basketball’

Coaching is more than a job for Taylor Cooper.

Kingfisher High School’s girls basketball team is about to discover that firsthand.

Cooper was unanimously approved as the program’s new head coach last Thursday during a special meeting of the Kingfisher Board of Education.

“I’m excited,” said Cooper. “Becoming a head coach has always been a dream of mine. We have a lot of work to do, so I’m ready to get started.”

This will be Cooper’s first gig as a head coach after five years as an assistant, which followed an ultra-successful playing career that included two high school state championships and a starting role at Texas A&M.

She takes over one of the most historically successful programs in Oklahoma.

KHS has won four state titles and made 25 appearances at the state tournament, but none since 2009.

KHS Athletic Director Jay Wood, who was instrumental in the hiring process, said he feels Cooper is the right person for the job as Kingfisher attempts to return to title contention.

“Everywhere she has been from high school to college to assistant stops, she has been around great coaches, great people and great programs,” said Wood, himself a former KHS girls coach.

“She knows what it takes to win and be successful.”

Cooper’s spent last season under Casi Bays at Edmond Santa Fe – a team that won 36-30 at Kingfisher in late January.

Bays agrees with Wood.

“Taylor is a great hire for Kingfisher and I know, without a doubt, will be very successful,” Bays said.

When Bays brought Cooper to her staff, she knew it was a temporary fit.

“I wanted Taylor to be a part of our coaching staff here at Santa Fe because, first off, she knows basketball,” Bays said.

“She played at the highest level in college and I knew she would bring great knowledge of the game and fresh ideas.

“I hated to lose her, but knew when she joined our staff I wouldn’t have her very long.”

Prior to joining Bays, Cooper spent four years at Bishop McGuinness.

Her professional career path followed four years at Texas A&M (one of which was a redshirt) after transferring from Oral Roberts University.

Cooper started the final 13 games of her senior season, during which she averaged 6.2 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists a game.

Texas A&M advanced to the NCAA Tournament each year Cooper was on the roster.

Along the way, Cooper earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural leadership and development.

Cooper picked up her master’s degree in sports management and administration from Southern Nazarene University in 2020.

She was considered one of the state’s top recruits coming out of Shawnee High School in 2012.

Cooper helped lead the Lady Wolves to the 2012 Class 5A state championship as they went undefeated along the way.

She spent her first three years at Bethel High School, which included winning the 2011 Class 3A state title.

Cooper was named the state tournament MVP that year.

Her teams were 55-2 her last two years of high school ball.

And - at most every stop - Cooper was constantly learning from coaches she either played for or worked for.

In high school, it was Shawnee’s Wendi (Willits) Wells.

“She was all about toughness and doing things the right way,” Cooper said. “For me, that not only applies to basketball, but in life.”

At Texas A&M, it was legendary head coach Gary Blair and assistant Bob Starkey.

“(Coach Blair’s) famous saying was ‘Do your job,’” Cooper recalled. “Everyone’s role on a team is different and he was a mastermind at putting players in the best positions possible depending on their skills/ abilities and creating a system that fit his team.”

Starkey was the Aggies’ defensive guru and someone Cooper referred to as “like a second dad to me.”

“He was great with matchups and coming up with defensive schemes in order to take away the other team’s best player(s),” she said. “He was also big on developing relationships and the importance of having an efficient practice.”

Once Cooper got into coaching, she landed at Bishop McGuinness with head coach Richie Henderson, a former Oklahoma State assistant.

“Under him, I really learned the importance of managing people, whether it be coaches or players,” Cooper said. “No one person is more important than the other.”

Bays taught Cooper the importance of communication.

“She emphasized communication with her coaches along with her players as well,” Cooper said.

Almost a decade of molding has led Cooper to this point as she’ll now exert her own influence at KHS.

“Discipline, toughness, respect, hard work and accountability are character traits that will be emphasized daily,” she said.

“As a coach, I see my position as a lifestyle, not just a job. I seek to develop players so they have every opportunity to reach their potential as a student-athlete and as a person.”

Cooper said she wants to create “an atmosphere of success” within the program.

“I am a firm believer that if you continue to do things the right way, regardless of the situation, you will come out successful.”

She added it may not always be easy.

“I am tough and demanding of my players,” she said. “But there is never a time where I make them feel they can’t accomplish what I’m asking of them.”

Wood said Cooper’s influence will benefit the program.

“She knows how things are supposed to be run, not only from a coach’s side, but from a player’s side,” Wood said.

“I am excited to watch her take our program to that next level and mold our basketball players, not only into great basketball players, but successful young ladies.”