Clarion Athletics

Jermaine Cooper begins his 10th overall season at Clarion, and his ninth year as an assistant coach, in 2023-24.

Cooper served as the program's interim head coach during the 2022-23 season after the departure of previous head coach Jana Ashley. Cooper made his head coaching debut on Nov. 11 against Concord, and earned his first career victory at home on Dec. 18 when the Golden Eagles beat Millersville 70-59 at Tippin Gymnasium. The team followed up with a win on the very next day as well, routing Shepherd at home. Clarion won back-to-back road games against Mercyhurst and Slippery Rock near the end of the season to put a stamp on the end of Cooper's campaign.

Cooper had been the lead assistant for the Golden Eagle women's basketball team since 2014-15, and in that time was been a steady hand under Ashley. His work in recruiting has produced a number of talented players in Clarion, including All-PSAC selections Tyra Polite, Amesha Harden-Pullium and Sierra Bermudez. Just this past year, Bermudez became Clarion's first freshman to earn all-conference honors since Hannah Heeter in 2011-12. The first-year player ranked 11th in the PSAC in scoring at 14.2 points per game, and authored the Golden Eagle single-game scoring record with 44 points against Penn State – Shenango.

The Golden Eagles have also enjoyed a level of team success with Cooper on staff. His work in 2016-17 helped the Golden Eagles to their best season in nearly a decade, finishing with a 15-14 overall record and a 12-10 mark in PSAC play.  It was the team's first winning season since the 2009-10 campaign and saw Clarion return to the PSAC Tournament for the first time since 2013.  Tyra Polite had one of the most productive scoring seasons in school history and earned All-PSAC West honors for the first time in her career.
 
Cooper came to Clarion from NCAA Division I Binghamton University in Binghamton, N.Y., where he served as the Coordinator of Player Development from August 2013 through May 2014.
 
Prior to joining the staff at Binghamton, Cooper, a native of Youngstown Ohio, was the head women’s basketball coach at Ohio State-Mansfield during the 2012-13 season and was the associate head coach of the Ohio Glory women’s AAU program from 2011-13. He was also the head varsity boys’ basketball coach at Veritas Academy High School in Worthington, Ohio, for the 2009-10 through 2011-12 seasons and served as the school’s athletics director from July 2010 until March 2012.
 
Cooper has worked some top camps including the Syracuse University Girls’ Elite Camp, the Ohio State University boys’ camp and the Purdue University summer camp.
 
A 2009 graduate of The Ohio State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Technology, Cooper played club basketball while in college and also played semi-pro ball for the Marysville Meteors in 2010. A graduate of Rayen High School in Youngstown, Ohio, Cooper was a multi-sport athlete playing both basketball and baseball.