Cooper, Port Named All-American

James Cooper

Tom Port

A pair of College of Wooster basketball players – James Cooper (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield South) and Tom Port (Avon Lake, Ohio / Avon Lake) – was among the 25 selected to the D3hoops.com All-America Team, and Cooper also received All-American honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Cooper was a third-team choice by the coaches’ organization, which votes 24 to its annual All-America Team, and received honorable mention from D3hoops.com, while the Web site tabbed Port with fourth-team accolades.

“First, we’re very pleased that both Tom and James received this national recognition,” said Steve Moore, who wrapped up his 25th year as an NCAA Div. III head coach with a 525-168 record (.758). “Both had excellent seasons and are very deserving, but I think individual honors in a lot of ways are due to the success of the team and are a result of fine performances by a lot of different players this year.”

Just a sophomore, Cooper produced one of the best offensive seasons by a Fighting Scot ever. The capstone of his many achievements may have been becoming the first Wooster player to lead a league in scoring (records date back to 1960), as his 19.2 points per game was the best in the North Coast Athletic Conference. The 6-0, 155-pound shooting guard exploded for 20-plus points in 15 games, highlighted by a career-high 37 against Ohio Wesleyan University on Jan. 21. Cooper’s scoring average, the seventh-highest in school annals, came in a highly-efficient manner. He hit 55.7 percent of his shots from the field (216-of-388), 47.0 percent on 3-pointers (54-of-115), and 81.7 percent at the free throw line (89-of-109). Additionally, Cooper increased his assist and steal averages from 1.4 and 0.4 last year, respectively, to 2.4 and 0.9 during 27.6 minutes per game this season.

“James had some outstanding games and showed a lot of improvement from his first season,” summarized Moore.

Port transitioned from small forward to power forward for 2005-06 and suffered a significant injury this year, but still managed to pick up his first career All-American distinction. The 6-5, 215-pound athletic senior brought a variety of skills to the court, ranking second for Wooster in scoring (15.4 ppg), rebounding (5.9 rpg), assists (2.8 apg), and blocked shots (1.0 bpg). Port’s season appeared to come to a premature close on Jan. 18 when he suffered a fractured left wrist following a breakaway dunk at Hiram College. He bounced back, though, playing the final 10 games with a brace and averaging similar numbers (13.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, and 2.6 apg).

“Tom made great strides in his play and also switched positions from the previous year, and that led to a lot of team success,” Moore commented. “The way he was able to return to play after missing four games and help us capture that regular season championship, that was a fine accomplishment by Tom.”

Back in November, Wooster was pegged to finish second in the NCAC, but the Scots, using a slightly-revised system, averaged a school-record 98.2 points per game, defended their conference championship, thanks in large part to two regular season victories over eventual national runner-up Wittenberg University (86-83 on Dec. 10, 86-77 on Feb. 4), and went 26-4 overall. It marked their fourth consecutive season with at least 25 wins, as they continue to be NCAA Div. III’s winningest team of the 2000s (180-28; .865).