Cooper Land

Cooper Land
Personal information
Born (1988-11-10) November 10, 1988
Highland Village, Texas
Nationality American
Listed height 205 cm (6 ft 9 in)
Listed weight 104 kg (229 lb)
Career information
High school Marcus (Flower Mound, Texas)
College Wright State (2007–2011)
NBA draft 2011 / Undrafted
Playing career 2011–present
Position Power forward / Center
Career history
2011–2012 Asker Aliens
2012 VfL Kirchheim Knights
2013–2016 Rockingham Flames
2014 Rizing Fukuoka
Career highlights and awards

Cooper Land (born November 10, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Rockingham Flames of the State Basketball League (SBL). He played college basketball for Wright State University before playing professionally in Norway, Germany, Australia and Japan.

High school career

Land attended Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas. As a junior in 2005–06, he averaged 10 points and five rebounds per game in helping his team finish with a 20–10 record. As a senior in 2006–07, he averaged 16 points and seven rebounds per game, as his team finished with a 29–7 record and made it to the state's Sweet 16.[1]

College career

Land played sparingly as a freshman at Wright State in 2007–08. In 33 games (no starts), he averaged 3.2 points and 2.2 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game.[1][2] As a sophomore in 2008–09, his playing time and production increased slightly. In 33 games (three starts), Land averaged 4.2 points and 1.9 rebounds in 13.0 minutes per game.[1][2]

Land's junior and senior seasons were both interrupted by injury: on February 8, 2010, he tore his ACL and subsequently missed the rest of the 2009–10 season;[1] and in February 2011, he missed time due to another knee injury.[3] As a junior, he averaged 5.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 16.6 minutes in 24 games, and as a senior, he averaged 8.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 25.7 minutes in 26 games (with 24 starts).[1][2] On December 30, 2010, he scored a career-high 21 points against Milwaukee.[4]

Professional career

Asker Aliens (2011–2012)

In August 2011, Land signed with Norwegian club Asker Aliens for the 2011–12 season.[5][6] He helped Asker finish the regular season in second place on the ladder with a 15–6 record, and with a 66–61 win over the Tromsø Storm in the semi-finals, Asker moved on to the BLNO Final. There they were defeated 80–78 by Frøya Basket despite a 15-point effort from Land.[7] He appeared and started in all 23 games for Asker in 2011–12, averaging 21.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game.

VfL Kirchheim Knights (2012)

In July 2012, Land signed with the VfL Kirchheim Knights of Germany for the 2012–13 season.[8] On December 27, 2012, he was parted ways with Kirchheim, with the team citing a number of poor performances linked to a recurring knee injury.[9] In 15 games for the Knights, he averaged 10.1 points and 2.9 rebounds per game.

Rockingham Flames (2013–2014)

Shortly after leaving Germany, Land moved to Western Australia and signed with the Rockingham Flames for the 2013 State Basketball League season.[10] He made his debut for the Flames with a 33-point effort against the Willetton Tigers on March 15, 2013. On April 27, he scored a season-high 42 points in a 106–102 loss to the South West Slammers. Despite Land's great individual season, the Flames missed a playoff spot in 2013 with a 9–17 record. In 24 games for the Flames, he averaged 27.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game.[11]

In October 2013, Land re-signed with the Flames for the 2014 season.[12] Land was joined at the Flames by his older brother, Taylor, who had played for the Mandurah Magic in 2013. Land upped his game in 2014, as he scored 40 points or more in five games—including a career-high 46 points against the Perth Redbacks on May 17—and guided the Flames to a second-place finish with a 17–9 record. However, the Flames stumbled in their quarter-final match-up with the seventh-seeded East Perth Eagles, losing the best-of-three series 2–1. Land shot poorly during the series, going 23-of-68 from the field over the three games. Despite his quarter-final performance, his excellent regular season earned him recognition as the league's Most Valuable Player.[13] In 27 games for the Flames in 2014, he averaged 29.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.[14]

Rizing Fukuoka (2014)

In August 2014, Land signed with the Rizing Fukuoka of the Japanese bj league.[15] He appeared in 18 games for Fukuoka before parting ways with the club in December 2014. In those 18 games, he averaged 8.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

Second stint with Rockingham (2015–2016)

In February 2015, Land and his brother were reintroduced as the Rockingham Flames' imports for the 2015 season.[16][17] On May 16, 2015, he recorded season highs of 45 points and 18 rebounds in a 96–82 win over the Willetton Tigers.[18][19] He played for the South All-Stars in the 2015 SBL All-Star Game held on June 1,[20] scoring eight points in the game as a starter.[21] Land helped the Flames finish the regular season in fifth place on the ladder with a 15–11 record. They went on to win their quarter-final match-up with the fourth-seeded Cockburn Cougars, defeating Cockburn 2–1 to move onto the semi-finals. There they were defeated 2–0 by the eventual champions, the Joondalup Wolves. In 27 games for the Flames in 2015, Land averaged 26.0 points, 11.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game.[22]

Land returned to the Rockingham Flames in 2016 for a fourth season,[23] earning Player of the Week honors for Round 1 after recording 34 points, 15 rebounds, two assists and three blocks against the Willetton Tigers on March 19.[24] On June 6, he scored six points off the bench for the South All-Stars in the 2016 SBL All-Star Game, a game the South won 116–104.[25] On July 15, he had a 45-point outing in a 115–102 win over the Stirling Senators.[26] Land helped the Flames finish the regular season in fifth place on the ladder with a 17–9 record, but in their quarter-final match-up with the fourth-seeded Geraldton Buccaneers, they were swept 2–0 despite Land scoring 72 points over the two games. At the end-of-season awards night, he was named the league's MVP for the second time in three years.[27] In 27 games for the Flames in 2016, he averaged 28.8 points, 10.2 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.[28]

Personal

Land is the son of Bill and Gayle Land. His father is the play-by-play voice for the San Antonio Spurs.[1][29] His brother, Taylor, is also a basketball player.[10] In 2012 and 2013, Taylor played for the Mandurah Magic, the Rockingham Flames' number one rival.[30] In 2014, Taylor joined Cooper at the Rockingham Flames and the pair played alongside each other for three straight seasons.

Land is a Christian. In the summer of 2012, he traveled to Israel with Athletes in Action, a Christian organization with a goal to build spiritual movements through sport. He visited over 40 biblical sights and participated in a tournament in Palestine.[31]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "#14 Cooper Land". wsuraiders.com. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Cooper Land Stats". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Sports Wrap – February 2011". WrightStateAlumni.com. Archived from the original on May 22, 2014. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Wright St. 68, Wis.-Milwaukee 44". ESPN.com. December 30, 2010. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  5. ↑ Potter, Bill (August 11, 2011). "WSU's Land Headed to Norway to Begin Professional Career". HorizonLeague.org. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  6. ↑ Nagel, Kyle (August 12, 2011). "Ex-WSU player now an Alien". SpringfieldNews-Sun.com. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  7. ↑ "BLNO Season 2011-2012". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  8. ↑ Korff, Moritz (July 25, 2012). "Kirchheim Knights bag Cooper Land". Eurobasket.com. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Ohne Vier ins nächste Jahr". Kirchheim-Knights.de (in German). December 27, 2012. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  10. 1 2 Boyle, Niall (March 14, 2013). "Brothers to battle it out". Yahoo.com. Sound Telegraph. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Player statistics for Cooper Land – 2013". SportsTG.com. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  12. ↑ "FLAMES SIGN IMPORTS FOR 2014 SBL & WSBL SEASON". Facebook.com. October 3, 2013. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  13. ↑ McAuliffe, Hugh (September 7, 2014). "2014 SBL Awards". Australiabasket.com. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Player statistics for Cooper Land – 2014". SportsTG.com. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  15. ↑ Odevan, Ed (August 14, 2014). "Shiga brings in veteran Parmer to boost bid for title". JapanTimes.co.jp. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Flames Announce 2015 SBL Coaching Staff & Restricted Players". SportsTG.com. February 6, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  17. ↑ McAuliffe, Hugh (February 8, 2015). "Land comes back to Flames, ex Fukuoka Rizing". Australiabasket.com. Retrieved February 9, 2015.
  18. ↑ Pike, Chris (May 17, 2015). "Double wins for Redbacks and Flames on impressive night (Week 10 Saturday night SBL wrap)". SportsTG.com. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  19. ↑ "WILDCATS OFF-SEASON WRAP: 18 MAY, 2015". Wildcats.com.au. May 18, 2015. Retrieved December 18, 2015.
  20. ↑ McAuliffe, Hugh (May 20, 2015). "2015 SBL All-Stars". Australiabasket.com. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  21. ↑ "South vs North". FIBALiveStats.com. June 1, 2015. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Player statistics for Cooper Land – 2015". SportsTG.com. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  23. ↑ Pike, Chris (March 18, 2016). "Men's SBL Season Preview – Rockingham Flames". SportsTG.com. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  24. ↑ "MSBL Player of the Week". SportsTG.com. March 22, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2016.
  25. ↑ "North vs South". FIBALiveStats.com. June 6, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016.
  26. ↑ "Senators vs Flames". FIBALiveStats.com. July 15, 2016. Retrieved July 15, 2016.
  27. ↑ "2016 @WA_SBL Men's MVP: Cooper Land...". Twitter. September 17, 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Player statistics for Cooper Land – 2016". SportsTG.com. Retrieved October 2, 2016.
  29. ↑ "Bill Land - Spurs TV Play-By-Play". NBA.com. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  30. ↑ Russell, Darrell (July 10, 2013). "A Tale of Two Lands - Sibling Rivalry at its Best!". SportsTG.com. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
  31. ↑ Grove, Charles (November 15, 2012). "Former WSU hoops player Cooper Land continues career in Europe". TheGuardianOnline.com. Retrieved May 22, 2014.
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