Talaysia Cooper was never expecting her career to go like this.
She was one of the most exciting prospects in the 2022 class, and as a 6-foot point guard, she was one of the most coveted. Cooper was set to join the budding dynasty Dawn Staley was building at South Carolina.
Two years later, Cooper has played a total of 201 minutes.
Cooper sat out last season with Lady Vols basketball due to transfer eligibility rules after leaving South Carolina. Sitting on the bench as a freshman on a veteran-laden team contending for a national championship is one thing – sitting out with no option to earn her way onto the court was another.
As difficult as it was, not playing turned out to be exactly what Cooper needed. After an entire season of nothing but work, Cooper is prepared to remind those who forgot what she’s capable of.
“It was up to me to let people know who I am again,” Cooper told Knox News. “So I took that personal, and I’m still sitting on that. They gon’ have to see about me, I ain’t gonna lie.”
The purpose that fuels Talaysia Cooper
The first time Ashley Rivens went to Turbeville, South Carolina, with Cooper, it felt like it only took two minutes to drive through the small town.
“I’m like, ‘Girl, it’s like one stop sign around here,’ ” said Rivens, the girls director for Team Curry.
The total population of Turbeville was 760 people in 2020. The small town in Clarendon County isn’t close to any major cities, sitting more than 60 miles from Columbia and just over 90 miles from Charleston. Two of the eight items on Yelp’s list of things to do in Turbeville are hotels. Another is a rest area off the highway.
But out of that town rose a basketball star like it had never seen before. Cooper led East Clarendon to a state title as an eighth grader. She received scholarship offers in middle school, including one from Staley. Cooper scored more than 3,000 points in high school. She was the South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year in 2021 and a McDonald’s All-American in 2022.
In the Our Town video on Turbeville, Cooper is recognized for her accomplishment of going to play Division I basketball.
“They retired her jersey while she was still in high school – that’s a big deal,” Rivens said. “That just tells you what she means to her community, and I think that’s important … Her town, they believe in her … but it’s pressure that comes with that.”
It’s a balancing act – to let that notoriety inspire Cooper, but not consume her.
When she didn’t have games to look forward to last year, and it got harder to get out of bed for extra time in the gym, she had to dig deeper. When she was drained from going all out on scout team for three hours in practice just to sit the bench, she needed another reason to believe it would pay off.
Cooper thought of her mother – she’s her only child. She thought about the people of Turbeville. She couldn’t waste last season, because she has to make it – she just has to.
“Nobody ever did what I did in my city of Turbeville, South Carolina,” Cooper said. “So that just puts a big weight on my shoulders, too, because I know I can’t let them down … I put in the work my whole life, and you can’t look back now.
“You probably two steps away from where you need to be, but you’re not ever going to know if you give up. So you just have to keep going.”
Where Talaysia Cooper grew up on the court
Cooper was in first grade when she started playing basketball. It wasn’t anything serious. She was just playing rec ball.
By the time she finished fifth grade, she wasn’t allowed to play in the rec league anymore – she was “too advanced” to play with the other kids.
“At that point, it really clicked,” Cooper said. “They wanted me to play varsity when I was in fifth grade and it couldn’t happen.”
There wasn’t another team for her to join. The only place Cooper could play 5-on-5 was at the court in the trailer park she lived in. Every day, around 5 or 6 p.m., a group of guys played pickup.
At first, the grown men scoffed at the idea of a girl who wasn’t even in middle school yet playing with them. They didn’t know she spent her free time in the gym, teaching herself how to play. Cooper used to prop her phone up in the gym to watch videos of players like Skylar Diggins-Smith, Lady Vols legend Candace Parker and Carmelo Anthony.
Cooper mimicked their moves, perfecting them on her own. She soaked up the words Diggins-Smith said in motivational videos at Notre Dame.
So, Cooper made a proposition to the group of men: put her on the court one time, and she’d show them.
“Ever since, I just started killing against them,” Cooper said. “I would be the first pick for everybody. Everybody would want me on their team.”
Cooper grew up on that court, on the hard side of basketball. She got cussed at, pushed and shoved.
But not everyone grew up like that, she grew to realize. So Cooper took the time to understand her new teammates at Tennessee.
“I know how I am if a teammate comes off on me wrong, and I’m already in my feelings,” Cooper said. “What if I’m saying something to another teammate and they mad already, and I’m just making it worse and they flip on me? So that’s just learning when to say it in the right moment, because I know how I am.”
How Ashley Rivens pushed Talaysia Cooper to her goals
Rivens saw Cooper play for the first time at an annual Christmas tournament in Myrtle Beach. Cooper was a sophomore and “going at it” with Saniya Rivers, then a top-ranked guard in the class above her.
Rivens didn’t realize it was Cooper and started asking around. When they told her it was Cooper, she thought, “Oh, this is her. This kid is talented.” Cooper took control of the game, impacting it in every area – scoring, defending and rebounding.
“After the game, (Rivens) came up to me and was like, ‘I really want you to play for me. You can really grow with me,’ ” Cooper said.
Playing for Rivens on Team Curry – the Under Armour Association teams sponsored by NBA great Stephen Curry – wasn’t easy, but it was worth it. Cooper learned that the first practice.
She didn’t get in help defense where Rivens wanted, so every player had to get on the line and do sprints. Rivens was on Cooper from day one, pulling her to the side to get in her face when needed. But Cooper loved it. She had a coach who believed in her, who was hard on her because she cared enough to not let her mistakes slide.
“Without Ashley, coming from a small town, I would not be in the shoes I’m in right now,” Cooper said. “Ashley really pushed it into my head like, ‘Cool, nobody believes in you. Nobody wants to see you succeed. But I believe in you, and we’re gonna make sure you get there … no matter what it takes. I’m never gonna shut off on you.’ ”
Cooper admitted she could be lazy when she met Rivens. Moving forward, Rivens’ consistent reminders were ingrained in her: “You want this. You want the big stage, you want to be pushed. You want to be the best.”
How Ashley Rivens got Talaysia Cooper through last season
There’s a room in Rivens’ North Carolina house reserved for Cooper. It’s there for her on summer and holiday breaks, or just for the weekend if she needs to escape to Charlotte.
Ever since Cooper started playing for Rivens in 10th grade, the house became a second home, and she became a second mother.
Cooper often hangs out with Rivens’ two nephews, who live nearby. It’s just regular life for Cooper, and it’s a safe haven for when the days get hard and doubts creep in. It’s a place to “get my head right,” Cooper said.
“She’s going to make sure I’m staying the course on my goal, and I feel like that’s what I need in my life,” Cooper said. “I do feel rejuvenated when I leave, because they treat me like family.”
Cooper never thought she would have someone like Rivens in her life. Someone who listened and never judged her. Someone who meant it when they said they wouldn’t give up on her.
And Rivens stayed true to her word, especially last season.
“Last year, I used to be so stressed out,” Cooper said. “I was just going through it because I’m really sitting out … I used to sit on the phone with Ash for hours, just talking, you know? Just venting, and she’ll just sit on the phone and listen.”
The way Rivens invested in Cooper sticks with her when things get tough. She didn’t have to do everything she did for Cooper – she could have just gotten her to play for her AAU team, won a bunch of games and called it a day. But Rivens saw something special in Cooper. As long as Cooper put in the effort on her end, Rivens would get Cooper where she wanted.
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“That really showed me – ‘Coop, you got somebody that’s really believing in you. Why won’t you just keep going for it, straight path, do what’s right?’ ” Cooper said. ” ‘You got somebody that’s going to guide you there …’ She told me this from day one. ‘I’m not going to let you go down the wrong path, you’re going to get to the top. I believe in you.’ “
And for Cooper, that was what she needed more than any basketball advice. She always had the talent and desire to be pushed outside her limitations – she just needed someone to show her the way.
Cora Hall covers University of Tennessee women’s athletics. Email her at cora.hall@knoxnews.com and follow her on Twitter @corahalll. If you enjoy Cora’s coverage, consider a digital subscription that allows you to access all of it.
