Bob Lutz: Concordia’s Cooper Holmes joins the 2,000-point club

Concordia’s Cooper Holmes is a scorer, which seems silly to say given that he surpassed 2,000 points in his high school career with 33 points Tuesday night against Riley County.

It’s the rapidity in which the 6-foot-4 Holmes can score, though, that sets him apart. He made seven three-pointers against Riley County including five in the third quarter. In an earlier game against Chapman, Holmes made three three-pointers in the game’s first 50 seconds, coach Michael Roe said.

In an earlier game against Chapman, Roe said, Holmes made five three-pointers in a quarter.

“I’ve always been a scorer,” Holmes said. “Now I’ve improved in other areas.”

So much so that he’ll attend Washburn on a basketball scholarship in the fall.

“The thing about Cooper is that he’s shooting the ball at 50 percent from the three-point line,” said Roe, in his fourth year as coach and ninth with the program. “That’s a little different. We always knew he could shoot it well but in his first three years he played mostly inside for us. This year we have another post player (Ian Nordell) who is a pretty good post player and that allows Cooper to play more on the perimeter. That’s more suiting to his game.”

Holmes is the 18th player in boys Kansas high school history to top 2,000 points — he has 2,019 — and he’s averaging nearly 27 points this season.

His brother, Grant, scored 1,531 points at Concordia and is a redshirt freshman this season at Fort Hays State.

Next year, the brothers will be MIAA rivals.

“That will be strange,” said Tracey Holmes, their mother, who played basketball at Kapaun Mount Carmel. “We’re kind of in the middle of Hays and Topeka here in Concordia.”

Tracey’s father, Ron Heller, was a standout forward at the University of Wichita from 1958-61 and went on to become an assistant coach for the Shockers and Friends’ coach before his death in 2006. His influence, she said, rubbed off on Grant and Cooper.

“They were just in elementary school when he passed away, just starting to really play organized sports,” Tracey Holmes said. “He got to go to some of their basketball tournaments and help them with the game. I think he’d be very proud.”

Cooper Holmes said the loss of his grandfather was profound.

“We lost him kind of early and he was just such a great person,” he said. “I heard so many stories about him and he was such a big part of my life. Yeah, we definitely miss him.”

Basketball, though, remains their connection.

“I just remember how he was such an all-around, genuine guy,” Holmes said. “And how he was always in a good mood. My grandfather was really a people person and he always put a smile on the faces of others. And he really cared about coaching basketball, he was very passionate about the game.”

Ron Heller was a Wichita State assistant under Gary Thompson and Harry Miller from 1964-76 before going into banking. He returned to coaching at Friends, where he was also athletic director, for 19 years. He would have been excited to watch his grandsons do so well in high school and get the opportunity to play basketball in college.

“I’m really excited to be going to Washburn,” Cooper Holmes said. “I’ve always been really familiar with their program and with Coach (Bob) Chipman. I had some other MIAA offers, some Jayhawk Juco offers and some low-major Division I interest, too. But when I got that offer from Washburn, I was thrilled.”

Holmes’ perimeter ability is what sets him apart.

It’s not unusual for a 6-4 player to set up in the low post in high school and score at will against players who either aren’t as tall or as quick.

Holmes’ shooting sets him apart.

“Scoring is something I’ve always been able to do,” Holmes said, “but I think I’ve progressed a lot from my freshman to my senior season. My body has changed and filled out and I’ve gotten more athletic. And I’m a more versatile scorer now. I can shoot the three, post up the guards who try to defend me and drive to the basket.”

Concordia is 10-5 going into a Friday game at Chapman. Holmes could play as many as nine more games as he soars up the Kansas career scoring list.

“I had no idea what a big deal 2,000 points is until I started looking at some of the other names on the list,” Tracey Holmes said. “Even the other night, I knew he needed 14 points to get to 2,000 but I didn’t know it was kind of a big deal.”

Roe said he’s been spoiled by coaching the Holmes brothers and their 3,550 — and counting — points.

“We’ve been blessed,” he said. “What you have to remember about Cooper is that every team we play knows they have to do everything they can to stop him and he still goes out and scores 25 points. On the next level, he’ll have more one-on-one opportunities. I know he’s looking forward to that.”

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 12:17 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Concordia’s Cooper Holmes joins the 2,000-point club."