<
>

Cooper transfers from South Carolina to Baylor

Defending national champion Baylor will add graduate transfer guard Te'a Cooper, it was announced Thursday.

The Lady Bears had success with another graduate transfer last season, as Chloe Jackson filled in at point guard and helped lead Baylor to the NCAA title.

The 5-foot-8 Cooper, one of the top recruits of the class of 2015, started her career at Tennessee and averaged 8.6 points as a freshman in 2015-16. She sat out the 2016-17 season after a knee injury, then transferred to South Carolina. The Gamecocks tried to get her a transfer waiver to be eligible for 2017-18, but she had to sit out that season, too.

Cooper averaged 11.9 points and 2.2 assists this past season and was second-team All-SEC for South Carolina, which lost to Baylor in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Jackson was Baylor's first graduate transfer last season and earned Most Outstanding Player honors at the Women's Final Four.

"As most who follow the Lady Bears know, Chloe Jackson changed my mind about graduate transfers after such a great experience last year," Mulkey said in a statement. "We're excited to bring another extremely talented guard in this season in Te'a Cooper. She brings a lot of experience to our team, she's a battle-tested guard and we are looking forward to ways she can help the program."