FORT SMITH (KFSM)- Senior Alex Cooper is leaving his mark on the UA Fort smith basketball program, and in their record book. The point guard is the Lions' all-time assists leader, all-time steals leader, and single game assists leader.
But, on top of the program accolades, Cooper was able to hit another major milestone. In January against Bacone College, the senior became the Heartland Conference all-time assists leader. He dished out 10 against the Warriors to bring his career total to 461.
"I didn’t know exactly where I was but I knew I was closing in on it," said Alex Cooper. "But, then once I got like seven assist coach Newman said 'you get three more assists, you got the record.' The assist was sloppy, I fell and everything, but I knocked it down."
Cooper says he couldn’t have broken the assists record without the help of fellow senior Seth Youngblood, who is the Lions' all-time leading scorer.
"He probably got about 40-percent of our assists," said Cooper. "Without him, I really don’t think I would have gotten that record he is just a great shooter, and so he’s going to knock it down 40-percent of the time."
Although other great players will come through the UA Fort Smith basketball program, Lions' head coach Josh Newman expects Cooper to leave a lasting mark on the program and the record book.
"For right now, and probably a couple of years he’s going to stand up there with Seth," said UAFS head coach Josh Newman. "Those two will be the most predominant and most awarded young men in our program."
Cooper and UAFS will face Dallas Baptist Thursday, February 9 at home.