Bio

 Kyle Cooper enters his fifth season as Head Coach and Athletic Director at Howard College, where he
has built one of the premier programs in junior college basketball. In four seasons, Cooper has
compiled an 89-38 overall record and a 70 percent winning percentage at Howard.

The 2025-26 season marked a historic year for Howard College, as Cooper led the Hawks to the
NJCAA Division I National Championship with a 33-4 overall record. Along the way, Howard captured
the WJCAC regular season title and the Region V Championship. Cooper was named the 2026 NJCAA
Men’s Basketball Division I Coach of the Year.

In four seasons, he has coached 25 players who have gone on to the NCAA Division I level, including
seven from the 2025-26 team. Howard has also produced three NJCAA All-Americans during his
tenure. In 2025-26, Terry Copeland was named NJCAA National Player of the Year.

Cooper holds a 13-3 career postseason record across his head coaching tenure.

Howard has also excelled in the classroom under Cooper’s leadership. The program posted a 3.5 team
GPA during the national championship season and has maintained a 100 percent graduation rate
during his tenure.

Prior to Howard, Cooper served as an assistant coach at Tarleton State University, where he helped
the Texans set a school record for wins in the Division I era.

Before Tarleton, Cooper spent two seasons as head coach at Western Texas College, compiling a
38-19 record and leading the Westerners to a WJCAC Tournament Championship and multiple national
rankings.

Cooper earned his first head coaching opportunity at Little Priest Tribal College, where he engineered a
significant turnaround. In his lone season, he improved the program from two wins to 14, highlighted by
an upset victory over the defending national champion and No. 1-ranked team in the country.

He also held coaching positions at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and North Iowa Area
Community College.

A former standout player at NIACC, Cooper earned first-team All-Region honors before completing his
bachelor’s and master’s degrees in organizational leadership from Waldorf University.

Cooper resides in Big Spring with his wife, Nicole, and their two daughters, Mia and Skye.

Phone: (432) 264-5044

Email: kcooper@howardcollege.edu

Phone: (432) 264-5044

Email: kcooper@howardcollege.edu