HSSD dedicates new weight room to former coach
Hot Springs School District memorialized a much-beloved assistant basketball coach Wednesday afternoon, naming the new weight room connected to Trojan Arena after coach Aaron Cooper.
Cooper, who died May 16, was the assistant basketball coach for the Trojans, but his name will be attached to the new facility that is part of the Hot Springs Junior Academy.
“Coop is what we called him here in Hot Springs,” said Hot Springs athletic director Rodney Echols. “Coop was very impactful when you think about young men. He was an amazing guy. The last two years, his impact on our youth, our young men, our basketball program on and off the court was truly amazing. The things that he did, for him to have the impact that he had is truly a reflection of who Aaron Cooper was.”
Hot Springs school board member Dino Lenox said that the weight room was the proper choice for honoring Cooper as the facility will be much like the coach.
“I know we’re dedicating this weight room to him, using his name and stuff, but they have a lot in common,” he said. “Because that weight room is going to make these young men big strong men. It’s going to show their strengths; it’s going to show their weaknesses. It’s going to help them do better as far as taking care of their weaknesses and making some of those their strengths, and it’s gonna give them courage. It’s gonna make them brave. It’s going to get everything that it can out of them, and that’s a lot of what Coop would bring to these young man.” Trojans head coach Antoni Lasker said that he was jealous of Cooper’s family for getting to spend “those 28 years that he was here (with him), and I only got him for two.”
“He made a huge impact on everybody that he touched — infectious smiles, personality,” he explained. “If something was wrong with him, you would never know. He never showed it. He would always be upbeat, and he always wanted people around him to be the same. So with that being said, Man, everything we’ve done in this program over the last couple years, he’s been an amazing part of it. He’ll never be able to be replaced.”
Cooper’s parents, Raymond and Treva Cooper, were present at the dedication, as well.
“This is something that we never expected,” Raymond Cooper said. “He’d only been here two years, but he absolutely loved this place. … He loved Hot Springs, and he spent a lot of time talking about some of these guys. This is an honor and a privilege for him. He’s not bashful. He’d say, ‘They should name it after me.’ That’s just kind of the way he was. When you were down, when you left the conversation with him, he had a way of being upbeat, and you always felt better no matter what.”
The head coach of the Little Rock Mills Comets said that when his son was in high school, he worked to make sure that everyone got to play. There was a player who was not very good, and Cooper would tell his teammates, “Let’s make sure we win enough so he will get in the game.”
“When he (got) in the game, (Cooper) would tell the other guys, ‘You don’t shoot it. You just pass him the ball.’ He always wanted to take care
of people who needed help. I didn’t realize how many best friends he had,” Raymond Cooper said.
Following a presentation of a certificate to
Cooper’s parents by Superintendent Stephanie Nehus, the attendees were allowed to tour the new facility.