Zia Cooke set to play for the Los Angeles Sparks

Volume 2 Issue 16

Apr 16, 2023

This past week Zia Cooke was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks as the 10th overall pick in the first round of the WNBA draft.

Cooke decided to forgo another year of eligibility to enter the WNBA draft this season. Cooke is coming off a third-team All-American campaign for the South Carolina Gamecocks. In addition to being a third-team All-American, she also was named to the first-team All-SEC team and won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award as the best shooting guard in the nation.

She finished her senior season with 589 points, 31 steals and a free throw percentage of .792. The Gamecocks followed up their national championship season of 2022 with a Final Four appearance this year.

The Toledo Rogers graduate was a highly touted prospect that helped the Rams to back-to-back state titles. Cooke will become just the second pro basketball to graduate from Rogers. The other being Steve Mix who had a 13 season NBA career from 1970-1983.

Cooke will also become the 5th WNBA player in Northwest Ohio history. Natasha Howard of the Dallas Wings, and a Toledo Waite graduate, is currently the only active NWO athlete in the WNBA. Cierra Bravard (Perkins), Kamesha Hairston (Toledo Bowsher) and Caity Matter (Bluffton) also each played one season in the WNBA.

No Northwest Ohio athletes have ever competed against each other in the WNBA. That could change June 14th when the Sparks and Wings clash on a Wednesday night. Cooke will presumably make her WNBA debut on May 19th when the Sparks take on the Mercury on ESPN.

Leading Updates

Jaedyn McKinstry (Toledo St. John’s) has entered the transfer portal from BGSU football.
Casey Santoro (Bellevue) has entered the transfer portal from Kent St. basketball.

Notable Game Updates

On April 9th Vince Williams Jr. (Toledo/St. John’s) had 15 points and 8 rebounds in a Thunder loss to the Grizzlies.
On April 10th Andrew Chafin (Wakeman/Western Reserve) picked up the save, striking out all 3 batters he faced in an Arizona win over Milwaukee.
On April 12th Zavier Simpson (Lima/Lima Senior) had 27 points in a Humacao loss to Carolina.
On April 13th Chris Bassitt (Curtice/Genoa) struck out 7 while only giving up 4 hits against 25 batters in a Toronto loss to Detroit.
On April 13th Deylen Miley (Bryan) gave up only two hits in four innnings pitched in an Asheville win over Greenville.
On April 13th Ross Adolph (Van Buren) went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs in a Sugar Land loss to Oklahoma City.
On April 13th Nigel Hayes-Davis (Toledo/Whitmer) had 19 points and 8 rebounds in a Fenerbahce win over Crvena Zvezda.
On April 14th Martyce Kimbrough (Lima/Lima C.C.) had 10 points in a Toulouse loss to Lyon.
On April 15th Trevor Bassitt (Bluffton) won the Tom Jones Invitational 400m with a time of 45.25.

Interesting Reads

Just For Fun

What conferences would look like if they were by county:

Some schools/districts are located in multiple counties. For the purpose of this article it will be what county the high school building is currently in.

Allen County (10 schools, 9 FB)

Allen East, Bluffton, Delphos St. John’s, Elida, Lima Bath, Lima C.C. Lima Senior, Lima Shawnee, Spencerville, Temple Christian (No FB)

Auglaize County (6 schools, 5 FB)

Minster, New Bremen, New Knoxville (No FB), St. Marys Memorial, Wapakoneta, Waynesfield-Goshen

Crawford County (6 schools)

Buckeye Central, Bucyrus, Colonel Crawford, Crestline, Galion, Wynford

Defiance-Paulding County (8 schools)

Antwerp, Defiance, Def. Ayersville, Def. Tinora, Fairview, Hicksville, Paulding, Wayne Trace

Erie-Ottawa County (12 schools, 10 FB)

Danbury (No FB), Edison, Genoa, Huron, Margaretta, Oak Harbor, Perkins, Port Clinton, Sandusky, Sandusky St. Mary’s (No FB), Vermilion, Woodmore

Fulton-Henry County (10 schools, 7 FB)

Archbold, Delta, Evergreen, Fayette (No FB), Holgate (No FB), Liberty Center, Napoleon, Patrick Henry Pettisville (No FB), Swanton, Wauseon

Hancock County (9 schools)

Arcadia, Arlington, Cory-Rawson, Findlay, Fin. Liberty-Benton, McComb, Riverdale, Van Buren, Vanlue

Hardin-Wyandot County (8 schools)

Ada, Carey, Hardin Northern, Kenton, Mohawk, Ridgemont, Upper Sandusky, Upper Scioto Valley

Lucas County (22 schools, 17 FB)

Big (14 schools, 12 FB)

Anthony Wayne, Oregon Clay, Springfield, Syl. Northview, Syl. Southview, Tol. Bowsher, Tol. Central Catholic, Tol. Notre Dame (Girls), Tol. St. Francis (Boys), Tol. St. John’s (Boys), Tol. St. Ursula (Girls), Tol. Start, Tol. Waite, Whitmer

Small (8 schools, 5 FB)

Cardinal Stritch (No FB), Emmanuel Christian (No FB), Maumee, Maumee Valley Country Day (No FB), Ottawa Hills, Tol. Scott, Tol. Rogers, Tol. Woodward

Marion County (5 schools)

Cal. River Valley, Marion Elgin, Marion Harding, Marion Pleasant, Ridgedale

Mercer County (6 schools)

Celina, Coldwater, Fort Recovery, Maria Stein Marion Local, Parkway, St. Henry

Sandusky-Seneca County (12 schools, 10 FB)

Bellevue, Clyde, Fremont Ross, Fremont St. Joseph, Gibsonburg, Hopwell-Loudon, Lakota, New Riegel (No FB), Old Fort (No FB), Seneca East, Tiffin Calvert, Tiffin Columbian

Putnam-Van Wert County (13 schools, 7 FB)

Columbus Grove, Continental (No FB), Convoy Crestview, Delphos Jefferson, Fort Jennings (No FB), Kalida (No FB), Leipsic, Lincolnview (No FB), Miller City (No FB), Ottawa-Glandorf, Ottoville (No FB), Pandora Gilboa, Van Wert

Williams County (7 schools, 6 FB)

Bryan, Edgerton, Edon, Hilltop, Montpelier, North Central, Stryker (No FB)

Wood County (10 schools)

Bowling Green, Eastwood, Elmwood, Fostoria, Lake, North Baltimore, Northwood, Otsego, Perrysburg, Rossford

Northwest Ohio Sports Weekly

Discussion about this post