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Overcoming Obstacles

Photos Courtesy of Morgan Davenport

Only a few people learn the lesson of never giving up.

Eric Cooper has learned it quite well.

Born in Hamburg, Germany, Cooper unknowingly began his basketball career when his dad, Eric Cooper Sr. put a basketball in his crib. His father played basketball overseas in the early part of Cooper’s life.

Now Cooper’s been playing for 15 years.

“As I got older, the sport of basketball grew,” Cooper said. “[My dad] got me shoes, taught me how to do all the little things [like] dribbling.”

Little did Cooper know that by the time he was a freshman in high school, he would become one of the best basketball players in the country in his age group.