TSU introduces Cooper-Dyke as new women's hoops coach

HOUSTON, Texas -- Cynthia Cooper-Dyke spoke in detail Friday about her reasons for resigning as North Carolina-Wilmington's women's basketball coach to accept the head coaching vacancy at Texas Southern. But one factor clearly stood out.

"I'm back home," Cooper-Dyke said. "That's something that was very special to me."

Cooper-Dyke, a basketball Hall of Famer and former WNBA star with the Comets, formally returned to her Houston-area roots when she was introduced as TSU's new women's basketball coach during a news conference at the school's H&PE Arena. Cooper-Dyke, who replaces Yolanda Wells-Broughton, was the head coach at nearby Prairie View A&M from 2005-10 before spending the last two seasons at UNCW.

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Coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, one of the greatest women's basketball players ever, is enshrined in both the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (2009) and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2010).  This is a tremendous catch for the SWAC, with two hall of famers returning home -- Coach Cooper-Dyke (UNC-W) and Patricia Cage-Bibbs (N.C.A&T), returning to Louisiana to her alma mater, Grambling State University. Videographer: Houston Roundball

Hall of Famer Cooper-Dyke set to take over the helm of TSU women's basketball

HOUSTON, Texas -- Cynthia Cooper-Dyke was formally introduced as the new women’s basketball head coach at Texas Southern University on Friday. Cooper-Dyke is the 13th coach in the programs history. TSU marks her third head coaching position at NCAA Division I level.

“We’re very excited to introduce Cynthia Cooper-Dyke as the next head coach of Texas Southern Lady Tigers basketball, said TSU Director of Athletics Dr. Charles McClelland. “Coach Cooper-Dyke has shown the ability to turn around programs with that being evident by the success she has had throughout her career. We’re truly elated to have someone of her caliber join our staff and we expect great things out of our women’s basketball program over the years to come.”

Cooper-Dyke comes to Texas Southern from the University of North Carolina-Wilmington where she led the Seahawks to back-to-back postseason appearances in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) and was named 2011 Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year. In two seasons at UNCW, Cooper-Dyke compiled a 44-22 overall record highlighted by a 28-13 mark in conference play.


Videographer: Houston Roundball

Cooper-Dyke began her collegiate coaching career at Prairie View A&M where her teams captured three straight conference titles, two SWAC Tournament titles, two NCAA tournament appearances and two WNIT postseason appearances. Cooper-Dyke was named SWAC Coach of the Year twice. Her teams dominated SWAC regular season play compiling an impressive 64-26 record over a five-year period.

She is a member of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. She is also a USA Olympic Gold Medal winner. Cooper-Dyke captured four championship titles while playing with the Houston Comets and was named WNBA Finals MVP a total of four times. She played her college ball at the University of Southern California where she helped lead the team to back-to-back national titles.

“I’m extremely excited to take over as head coach of the Texas Southern women’s basketball program,” said Cooper-Dyke. “There’s a lot of talent within the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the program here at Texas Southern has limitless potential. We plan to recruit the best student-athletes in Houston, the state of Texas and across the country. Texas Southern can be one of the premier women’s basketball programs in the nation and we will work diligently to make that a reality.”

The Texas Southern women's basketball program finished a combined 11-49 the past two seasons including a 5-31 record in conference play. Cooper-Dyke will look to finalize all of the positions on her coaching staff during the upcoming weeks.



Cynthia Cooper-Dyke delivers her speech upon being enshrined to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2010. To learn more about Cynthia Cooper-Dyke take a look at her official Hall of Fame bio .  A noted disciplinarian, Coach Cooper-Dyke published her autobiography in 2000, entitled She Got Game: My Personal Odyssey, which covered her childhood, her basketball career up to that time, and her mother's battle with breast cancer.  She learned to speak Italian fluently during her 10 years playing professional basketball in the Italian league.  The former USC and WNBA star later completed her Bachelor's Degree in Human Sciences at Prairie View A&M University.

COURTESY TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION AND THE NAISMITH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME.