McEachern's Cooper taken by hometown Hawks
Jul. 30—As Thursday night approached, many websites, news organizations and mock drafts had Sharife Cooper as the biggest sleeper in the NBA Draft.
Atlanta is banking on that being the case after the former McEachern High School standout unexpectedly dropped all the way to the final quarter of the draft. After being projected to be taken somewhere between the 19th and 25th pick of the first round, the Hawks grabbed Cooper with the 48th overall pick in the second round to be a play-making backup point guard for starter Trae Young.
Young quickly posted his enthusiasm for the selection on Twitter.
"STAYING HOME !! Welcome To The Gang!! @SharifeCooper Let's get it," he wrote.
Cooper played only 12 games in his freshman season at Auburn as the NCAA reviewed his eligibility, but averaging 20.2 points and 8.1 assists per game in the short collegiate stint helped him to build a pedigree for the future. At 6-foot-1, 180-pounds he may be undersized, however, ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said on the draft broadcast he was surprised Cooper lasted to the second round. Two days earlier, Bilas said Cooper could be one of the steals of the draft.
"Sharife Cooper, as you saw, is sort of a self-made player — really a talented handler, passer, scorer," Bilas said in a predraft release. "He's small, though, and he's not a great shooter, but he's a scorer, not a shooter. I think as he refines his shot, he's got a good floater and all that, he can get into the lane and find people. He just has the ball on a string, a total wizard with the basketball."
Cooper is the fourth Cobb County product since 2016 to be selected in the NBA Draft. Former Wheeler star Jaylen Brown was the third overall pick of the Boston Celtics in the 2016 draft and former Pebblebrook star Collin Sexton was taken by the Cleveland Cavaliers with the No. 8 pick of the 2018 draft. Cooper's former McEachern teammate, Isaac Okoro, who also went to Auburn, was the fifth overall pick by Cleveland last year.
Cooper is the second player with McEachern ties to be selected by the Hawks. Josh Smith, who played his first three years of high school basketball before transferring to Oak Hill Academy, was selected with the 17th pick of the 2004 NBA Draft. He played nine of his 13 seasons in Atlanta.
Cooper is also the second second round selection in his family after his older sister, Te'a, was a second-round pick in the 2020 WNBA draft.
In his time at McEachern, Cooper led the team to the state championship as a junior, behind a 32-0 record, and then was named to the McDonald's All-American team after his senior season.
The success led Cooper to a five-star rating and ranked him as the fifth-best point guard in the 2020 recruiting class.
