Houston Comets, WNBA legend Cynthia Cooper-Dyke retiring from coaching

HOUSTON – Texas Southern University women’s basketball head coach Cynthia Cooper-Dyke, a WNBA and Houston Comets legend, announced her retirement from coaching on Thursday.

“Coach Cooper-Dyke has had a tremendous impact on TSU women’s basketball since her arrival and moved the program to new heights,” said Kevin Granger, TSU’s Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics, in a media release. “She will be missed as I wish her nothing but success in her future endeavors.”

Cooper-Dyke finishes as TSU’s third-winningest head coach in school history, helping lead the Tigers to their first-ever SWAC regular season championship in 2013. That season, she helped TSU win 20 games for the first time ever, complete with their first-ever postseason appearance. In between her two stints at Texas Southern, Cooper also was the women’s basketball head coach for four seasons at her alma mater, the University of Southern California, compiling a 70-57 record.

It was at USC where Cooper-Dyke won two national championships as a player, where her status as one of the all-time greats is unquestioned. After her USC days, she helped lead the Houston Comets to four consecutive championships during the WNBA’s first four years of existence. Cooper-Dyke was named WNBA Finals MVP for all four championships. She also was named the WNBA MVP in 1997 and 1998 and was the first in league history to reach 500, 1000, 2000, and 2500 career points. Cooper-Dyke was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

Granger will handle the interim day-to-day duties for TSU’s women’s basketball program until a new hire is made.