April 1, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame senior forward Jack Cooley (Glenview, Ill.) has been selected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division I District Five first team, while teammate junior guard Jerian Grant (Bowie, Md.) earned second-team honors.
Cooley and Grant were Notre Dame’s leading scorers during the 2012-13 campaign after leading the Irish to a 25-10 season and 11-7 mark in BIG EAST play. The Irish finished tied for fifth in the final conference regular-season standings, advanced to the semifinals of the BIG EAST Championship and earned a berth into the NCAA tournament field for the fourth consecutive year. Grant averaged a team-leading 13.3 points, while Cooley netted 13.1 points and led the Irish in rebounding with 10.1 boards per game.
Cooley was a first-team all-BIG EAST selection in his senior season after garnering second-team honors in 2012. Named the BIG EAST Conference Most Improved Player in’12, he averaged 12.4 points and 10.1 rebounds this past season. The 6-9, 246-pound forward led the league with 10 double-doubles in BIG EAST play. He scored a season-high 26 points and grabbed a season-best 16 rebounds for the second time during the season in an overtime win (79-71) at DePaul on Feb. 2, 2013. Cooley also put together a string of six consecutive double-doubles during the BIG EAST regular season. He was three times named to the league’s weekly honor roll during the’12-’13 campaign, while scoring in double figures in 15 of 18 contests and grabbing 10-plus boards in 11 games.
Cooley was one of three players who started all 35 games for the Irish this past season. He led Notre Dame in double-figure scoring efforts (29), games with 10 or more rebounds (20) and double-doubles (19). Cooley also topped the Irish with 41 blocked shots.
Grant started 34 of the 35 games he played and led the Irish in scoring on 14 occasions. A second team all-BIG EAST honoree, the 6-5, 202-pound guard led the Irish in assists (194) and was second on the team in steals (44). Grant led Notre Dame in scoring during the BIG EAST regular season as he averaged 14.2 points per game. He ranked second on the team with 28 double-figure scoring outings and led the Irish with four outings of 20 or more points. Grant finished second in the conference play with 5.94 assists per game. He posted two double-doubles this season that included 12-point and 10-assist performance against Villanova. Grant dished off eight or more assists in 10 games, including eight BIG EAST contests.
In addition to Cooley, the first team was comprised of Georgetown’s Otto Porter, Louisville’s Russ Smith, Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick and Connecticut’s Shabazz Napier. Grant was joined on the second team by Providence’s Byrce Cotton, Syracuse’s Michael Carter-Williams and C.J. Fair and Marquette’s Vander Blue.