How Briarcrest basketball's Cooper Haynes became one of the best players in school history
John Harrington remembers when Cooper Haynes first joined the basketball team at Briarcrest as an eighth grader. During a summer session before the season started, the coach looked around the gym for a volunteer.
When nobody offered to guard Mr. Basketball winner and future NBA Draft pick Kennedy Chandler, Haynes stepped up.
It was an early example on how Haynes became one of the best players in Briarcrest basketball history.
"I like to be pushed; I like to be challenged,” Haynes said. “I don’t like to be babied at all, whether in a game or whatever it is.”
Without that experience, Haynes might not have developed into the player he is now.
There’s no Chandler, Jaye Nash, or Jacob Gazzo on the roster to grab the spotlight. The team is Haynes’ and he’s ready to help Briarcrest succeed.
"To me, Briarcrest went as Cooper went,” said Cooper's father Scott Haynes.
Taking on the challenge
Haynes has never shied away from a challenge. Not in basketball and not in life.
"I work hard in every aspect in life,” said Haynes, who’s averaging over 20 points per game and shooting better than 60 percent from the field this season.
In school, his father said he’s received only one B and has over a 4.0 GPA. In basketball, he’s never satisfied with how he’s playing.
When he became a target for opponents, he didn’t just accept tighter defense on him and being double-teamed just about every game. He worked on his off-the-ball movement and taking off-balanced shots.
In his career at Briarcrest, he has over 2,100 career points and is close to breaking Leslie McDonald’s scoring record (2,330) − which is the private-school record in Shelby County. Haynes holds school records for most 3-pointers in a season and career.
Now he has the challenge of expanding his ability as an on-ball guard. When Chandler and Nash were playing, Haynes didn’t have to be the point guard. And while there are a couple of players that rotate as point guards for the Saints this season, there’s more priority on Haynes being more ball dominant.
"I think accountability is a big word with Cooper,” Harrington said.
Why did Cooper Haynes pick Belmont?
Haynes’ senior season is all about preparing him for playing at Belmont. Haynes and his family decided Belmont was the right choice over Ole Miss, Missouri and Jacksonville because of the fit of the program. He also got an offer from Memphis coach Penny Hardaway as a freshman.
Belmont’s play style matches his; a fluid offense predicated on ball movement and shooting.
"They play smart,” Haynes said. “I feel like I can go down there and make a play right away. And I feel like being in Nashville and being in the Missouri Valley (Conference), it’s really going to develop me a lot as a player so I’m excited for that opportunity.”
Harrington said this season has been about preparing his star guard for what to expect in college. With the personnel on the Saints, they’ve tried running two-man setups with Haynes and sophomore forward Fred Smith; another opportunity for Haynes to grow as a point guard.
And it’s giving him a chance to work on being a leader.
"It just matured me greatly,” Haynes said of playing varsity as an eighth grader. “I was a young kid coming in and I had never played on any type of level like that. So, I knew out the gate, I may not play this many minutes in the game, I may not get a chance in this game, but I knew to always be ready.”
Reach Wynston Wilcox at wwilcox@gannett.com and on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @wynstonw__.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: TSSAA basketball: Belmont signee Cooper Haynes a star at Briarcrest
