Brian Cooley is in his fourth year at Wright State but has been on Scott Nagy’s bench as an assistant coach for eight years after serving as a graduate assistant for two years at South Dakota State.
Cooley serves as recruiting coordinator, as well as being involved in all aspects of the program, including game preparation, practice planning and leading the guards in player development workouts.
In season one with the Raiders, WSU saw many successes and improvements that will act as a base for the future. Wright State posted 20 regular-season wins for the first time since 2008, including the title of the Men vs Breast Cancer Classic and finished with a 115 RPI. Also, WSU had a player named first-team All League for the first time since 2011 as Mark Alstork was honored by the Horizon League.
Year two in 2018, He helped guide the Raiders to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007 as senior Grant Benzinger was named to the the Horizon League's first team, freshman Loudon Love to the second team and Newcomer of the Year and junior Mark Hughes to the All-Defensive Team. For his and the team's efforts, Nagy was named the League and the NABC District Coach of the Year as WSU posted a 25-10, 14-4 record.
The third season, being picked to win the Horizon League title for the first-time ever at WSU, the Raiders tied for the regular-season title and received the top seed in the League Tournament. As Wright State (21-14, 13-5) advanced to the school's first NIT appearance, the Raiders added a record six individuals who received post-season conference honors, led by Scott Nagy being named Coach of the Year for the second straight time. Loudon Love once again was honored, this time as a first-team member while newcomer Bill Wampler was placed on the second-team. Seniors Mark Hughes and Parker Ernsthausen took two of the five spots on the All-Defensive Team, and Malachi Smith was placed on the All-Freshman squad. Additionally, Love was selected to the NABC District 12 Team, and named an All-American by the Lou Henson All-American Team committee, an award given annually to the nation's best mid-major players in Division I college basketball.
During his tenure as assistant coach, he helped the Jackrabbits to 154 wins, including a 121 in the last five seasons, which resulted in five straight postseason appearances. SDSU captured back-to-back Summit League Tournament championships and NCAA tournament berths in 2012 and 2013 and again in 2016, with a College Basketball Invitational bid in 2014 and an NIT?berth in 2015, when the Jacks won their first-ever Division I postseason game at Colorado State.
2015-16 not only saw a return to the NCAA Tournament, narrowly losing to five seed Maryland, but also the school’s highest year-end RPI at 39 and three players honored by the Summit League in post-season teams.
The 2012-13, Jackrabbits won both the regular season and post season Summit League championships before losing to Michigan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 25-10 record includes a perfect 13-0 mark at Frost Arena that extended the nation’s longest home winning streak to 30 games. The season also includes a win at Mountain West champion New Mexico, helping the Jackrabbits finish the season ranked 18th in the collegeinsider.com mid-major poll.
The 2011-12 Jackrabbits made history across the board, winning the Summit League Tournament championship and earning the program’s first ever Division I NCAA Tournament berth, where the Jacks fell to Baylor in the second round. Season highlights include a win at Pac 12 champion Washington and finishing with a school best 44 RPI en route to a 27-win season, which ties the school record.
Cooley coached a total of 13 Jackrabbits who went on to earn All-Summit League honors, including 2013 Summit League Player of the Year, the Jacks all-time leading scorer and assists man and the 38th overall pick in the 2013 NBA draft, Nate Wolters.
Before becoming an assistant coach, Cooley served as the program’s academic coordinator, helping the Jackrabbits to a 3.0 or better team grade point average from 2010-13, as well as helping the Jackrabbits earn 19 spots on the Summit League Academic All-League Team and a pair of CoSIDA/Academic All-District selections during that span.
Cooley came to South Dakota State after working as an assistant under Jason Ryan at Bellevue East High School in Bellevue, NE, in 2006-07.
Cooley played at Nebraska Wesleyan in Lincoln, Neb. For four years with the Prairie Wolves, earning the team’s defensive player of the year honor as a senior captain in 2005-06.
More than just a great all-around athlete, Cooley also earned Great Plains Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete honors in 2006, and graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in health and physical education.
Cooley graduated with his master’s degree in sports pedagogy from South Dakota State in the spring of 2009.
