Recruiting Report: Cooper Olson (2020)

<p>Cooper Olson is a 6-foot-7 forward from Champlin Park and the Minnesota Comets.  Olson recently returned from the U of Mary camp and Prep Hoops caught up with him to talk basketball. </p> <p>Olson was one of a small handful of players to be offered by the Marauders during the camp, a time of basketball of which Cooper enjoyed. </p> <p>"I really like Coach Joe Kittell and the rest of the staff at U of Mary," Olson said. "It was really exciting to see the changes that he has made to the program since becoming Head Coach a couple years ago. UMary's campus is beautiful and they have invested a lot of money into renovations and improvements. The camp was highly competitive and I enjoyed getting to know some of the current players and coaching staff."</p> <p>The U of Mary and other NSIC programs have been tracking Olson throughout the spring.  St Cloud, Milwaukee, Omaha, and the Twin Cities are the areas where programs have seen the 22-4 Comets compete at a high level. </p> <p>"I really like playing for Chris Lewis and the Comets! Coach allows us to be ourselves out on the court and that is why I think we have had so much success as a team. Playing for the Comets I have the opportunity to play the three through five positions which has made me a more versatile player and we also compete against some of the best competition in the Midwest."</p> <p>The Comets will be back on the court in July but the month of June has been left for the high school teams and individual players to compete on their time.  Champlin Park losses four of their top five scores from last season but expectations are still high.  The Rebels looked good at Gopher team camp last weekend.</p> <p>"The Gopher Team Camp was our first competitive games together as a group," Olson said of this new group of players leading the way. "We played well and went 4-0 at the camp. I thought our team looked really good and with six guys returning with varsity experience. Our expectations are very high for next season. As always our goal is to compete for the section championship and then see what happens."</p> <p>The leading returning scorer Francis Nwaokorie returns in the middle with Olson next to him and Joshua Strong on the ball.  These three are the expected production leaders with seniors Jared Walter, TJ Moberg, and Ethan Rens also playing big roles. The Rebels will be a top 10-12 team to start the 2019-20 season. </p> <p>By that time Olson will likely have his college decision made.  But where?</p> <p>"The schools I am hearing from the most are University of Mary, Southwest Minnesota State, Bemidji State, Minnesota-Duluth, and Minnesota State Moorhead in the NSIC,' Olson explained.  A couple other schools that I talk to frequently are Michigan Tech and Emporia State.</p> <p>"I have taken visits to Bemidji State, UMD, USF, and U of Mary so far. Some other schools have reached out and want me to visit soon. Bemidji has a beautiful campus that is right on the lake. UMD has a very young, excited coaching staff and at USF the facilities were impressive and the atmosphere at the game I attended was crazy."</p> <p>Olson has been one of the biggest stock raisers of the spring/summer and we expect him to be one of the top 20 or 30 seniors in the state next season. </p> <p>&nbsp;</p>