It was an award more than three decades in the making.
Hillsdale College senior forward Kyle Cooper was named the 2015-16 GLIAC Player of the Year Monday afternoon. The award was announced by the conference office and chosen in voting conducted by GLIAC coaches.
Cooper is the first Charger to win the conference's top honor since Dave Springer did it following the 1983-84 season. He earned this award by turning in an all-around season rarely seen in the sport of basketball.
Cooper fulfilled his label as GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year, an honor he achieved in October, by finishing the regular season leading the conference in both scoring (22.8 points per game) and 3-point shooting percentage (.453). He was the GLIAC's second-leading rebounder at 9.7 boards per game.
Consistency was a key to Cooper's season in 2015-16. He had six games of 30 or more points and two 40-point games, the latter, a feat unmatched in school history. In the boards, Cooper had 16 games of 10 or more rebounds, and of those remaining 10 games of less than 10, he snagged nine in three of those.
Cooper also led the GLIAC in field goals made (174) and defensive rebounds (177), while ranking second in minutes played (797) and third in free throws made (107). During the season, he was named GLIAC North Division Player of the Week five times, the most of any conference player this season and the most of any men's basketball player in program history.
Cooper played his high school basketball at Detroit Catholic Central.