Aussie Hoops America: UAA's Luke Cooper Adds To List of Honors

UAA's Luke Cooper Adds To List of Honors
www.goseawolves.com
4 Apr 2008
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Anchorage senior point guard Luke Cooper (Melbourne) added to his list of honors this week when he was named a First Team All-American by Division II Bulletin. The same publication recognized fellow UAA senior Carl Arts as an honorable mention All-American as well.
Cooper – who had previously been named a second-team All-American by Basketball Times – led D-II with 8.9 assists per game and was second nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.56-1). Also averaging a career-best 7.7 points per game, he helped the Seawolves finish 29-6 and advance to the NCAA Div. II Final Four for second time in school history.
Cooper’s 310 total assists in 2007-08 and his 880 career assists both rank No. 4 on the single-season and all-time lists for NCAA Div. II. In terms of career assists per game, Cooper finished No. 11 with 7.3 apg.
In 2007-08, he dished double-digit assists on 15 occasions – including school records of 18 against Saint Martin’s and 17 against Montana State Billings – and 32 times in his 4-year career.
Last month Cooper was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year and a first-team all-region selection in both the Daktronics (sports information directors) and NABC (coaches) balloting.
He is also one of 16 finalists – one of just two at the D-II level – to vie for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation’s top point guard.
Arts – previously announced as an All-America selection on the NABC State Farm squad – added his D-II Bulletin honor to his long list of accolades.
The 6-6, 210-pound forward averaged team-leading numbers of 18.5 points, 7.9 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 0.5 blocks per game for the Seawolves, who finished No. 4 in the final NABC national poll.
Last month, Arts gained first-team all-region accolades in both the NABC and Daktronics (sports information directors) voting. He was also a first-team All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference pick and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team in UAA’s West Regional title run.
The Valdez, Alaska, native led the GNAC in rebounding and double-doubles (10), and was the league’s third-leading scorer. He was also second in the GNAC in minutes played (35.2), behind only Cooper’s 36.3 mpg. A three-time GNAC Player of the Week, Arts has score in double digits in 32 of 35 games, including 18 outings of 20 or more.
With 1,544 points and 762 rebounds, he finished No. 3 on both UAA career lists; in all, Arts ranked in the top 10 in 12 UAA career categories, including 3FG% (5th, .439), blocks (5th, 70), FT% (10th, .824), games started (t-4th, 90), games played (t-2nd, 121) and double-doubles (6th, 16). 2007-08 D-2 Bulletin All-America Teams