Sharife Cooper commits to Auburn
September 28, 2019
Jay Phillips
Five-star point guard Sharife Cooper committed to Auburn while visiting the school Friday night. Cooper joins Justin Powell as Auburn’s second commitment of the 2020 class.
247 Composite: 18
247: 20
Rivals: 16
ESPN: 17
USA Today Chosen 25: 2
Junior season averages at McEachern high school (32-0, Georgia 7A state champions): 28.6 points, 8.7 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 4.1 steals a game.
Cooper, standing at six-feet tall and weighing 160 pounds, is a consensus top-20 five star point guard and, unless Auburn signs an even higher ranked recruit, Cooper will be the highest ranked player to sign with Auburn in the history of the 247 database.
Cooper has been on Auburn’s radar for a while, and two of his high school and AAU teammates, Isaac Okoro and Babantunde Akingbola, committed to the Tigers as apart of Auburn’s 2019 class and are already on campus along with Devan Cambridge.
Cooper and Cambridge both played on the Athletes of Tomorrow (AOT) team on this summer’s AAU circuit.
Auburn fans everywhere have been following Cooper’s career for the last year or two already, and Cooper’s longtime lean towards Auburn was no secret. His commitment puts Auburn’s 2020 class in a good spot with Powell and Cooper both committed and multiple five-star and top-100 targets still undecided.
Cooper accomplished as much, if not more than any other junior in recent high school basketball history, and that was highlighted by him becoming the first junior in Maxprep-history to win the site’s national boy’s player of the year.
He was also named the 2018-19 ALL-USA Boys Basketball Player of the Year by USA Today.
Cooper won those awards while leading McEachern to a perfect 32-0 record last season.
His team, featuring Okoro, won the City of Palms tournament and the Bass Pro Shop Tournament of Champions, and Cooper won the MVP of both tournaments.
The awards Cooper won didn’t start rolling in out of nowhere.
Last summer, Cooper became the first underclassmen to ever win the EYBL Offensive Player of the Year honors for his performance with the AOT.
Cooper led the Peach Jam in scoring and assists that year.
This summer Cooper averaged 25.5 points and 8.0 assists, good for fifth place in scoring and second place in assists among all EYBL players.
With Jared Harper declaring for the draft shortly after last season’s end, many speculated that Cooper could reclassify and join Auburn’s 2019 class.
However, Cooper seems content with staying in the 2020 class, and that could benefit the rest of Auburn’s class in the long run.
Cooper was reportedly recruiting for Auburn even before his commitment became public, and shortly after he committed it was reported that he wants to play with player such as Jalen Green (a five star guard who is visiting Auburn along with Cooper), Greg Brown (a five star forward scheduled to visit Auburn for the Iron Bowl), Jaemyn Brakefield (a top-35 forward who visited Auburn for the Tulane game), Cliff Omoruyi (a top-50 center who visited Auburn for the Kent State game) and others at Auburn.
Cooper is one of the most popular high school basketball players in the country, and his commitment could give Auburn a leg up in some of the upcoming recruiting battles.
Where he fits:
Cooper’s ability to score and get to the basket are undeniable. He can also make almost any pass necessary, but he is prone to having high turnover numbers due to the gambles he takes on offense.
Cooper’s defense also has a good bit of room for improvement , but the way Bruce Pearl has built the roster that will likely surround Cooper should make these weaknesses easier for the guard to overcome.
With players like Tyrell Jones, Okoro, Cambridge, Allen Flanigan, Jaylin Williams and others all potentially slated to play alongside Cooper, the five-star guard will have elite defenders surrounding him and players that can lighten his scoring-load.
Cooper will likely take over as the starting point guard when he does arrive on campus for, not this coming season, but next season.
My opinion is that Jones and Cooper will be a double-headed, but undersized, backcourt similar to the one on Auburn’s Final Four run.
If Auburn adds someone like Green or Matthew Murrell to the mix, they’ll have a chance to make that a triple-headed monster.
