Committee names Cooper as finalist

By Purdue Sports Information

Purdue graduate Camille Cooper has been named one of 10 finalists for the NCAA's Woman of the Year award.

The winner of the award, which is in its 11th year of existence, will be announced at an awards dinner Oct. 21 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in Indianapolis.

Each spring, all NCAA member colleges and universities are invited to nominate student-athletes with outstanding achievement on the field of play, in the classroom and in the community. After the initial nomination process is complete, a committee selects one winner from each state. From those 50 women, 10 finalists are selected. A committee of athletic administrators from NCAA member institutions and a former recipient of the award make the final cut and final decision.

Cooper, a former Boilermaker basketball player who is now a member of the WNBA’s New York Liberty, was a member of the 1999 NCAA championship and 2001 NCAA runner-up teams. She played for two Big Ten regular season champion teams and won three Big Ten Tournament titles. Individually, Cooper earned honorable mention All-America status as a senior, and she was a two-time first team All-Big Ten pick.

A political science major, Cooper earned Academic All-Big Ten honors three times and was a first team Academic All-American as a senior. She also was selected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Cooper served the community by volunteering for various organizations, including Lafayette Urban Ministries and THE CHAPS, for which she walked horses that carried disabled children. Cooper also played an integral role in organizing the first two Tiffany Young celebrity basketball games that benefited the Tiffany Young Youth Center being established in Hillsboro, Ala., the hometown of Cooper’s late teammate.

Cooper is the second Purdue student-athlete to have been named a finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year. Stephanie (White) McCarty was one of the final 10 in 1999.

Irish seek to repeat successful season

Committee names Cooper as finalist

SPORTS DESK PHONE:
(765) 743-1111 ext. 251

Sports editor:
Paul Trembacki

Assistant sports editor:

To send a letter to the editor, please email opinions@purdueexponent.org