By Mel Greenberg
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Former WNBA star Cytnhia Cooper-Dyke is making new memories in the world of the NCAA such as a near upset of No. 14 Rutgers by her Prairie View A&M team that rallied from a 29-14 first-half deficit Thursday before losing 58-56 at the finish at the Louis A. Brown Athletic Center.
Knowing the drill by now when things don't go well with the Scarlet Knights, an extended locker room session usually occurs with Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer and her team before emerging for the postgame press conference.
Thursday night's session lasted 50 minutes according to the local media member who also filed Associated Press copy on the game.
Aware there would be no reason to rush through Cooper-Dyke's briefing, she gracefully held court in the interview room discussing the game, praising Rutgers, but just as important she recalled the glory days of the former Houston Comets which won the first four WNBA titles with Cooper as one of the centerpieces.
Last week, the WNBA, which had taken over operation of the team, announced its suspension and on Monday dispersed the eligible players on the Comets' roster to the rest of the league. Several others, such as Tina Thompson, are free agents and able to make their own deals.
"I was just devastated to hear the Comets were folding," Cooper-Dyke said. "With the history that Houston had, it's just incredible that woild happen to a franchise that had won the first four championships of the WNBA.
"I was sad. I looked at a lot of old articles, and pictures, and highlight tapes -- I was good, geesh -- I just reminisced," she continued.
"My mom and Kim (Perrot) were alive for our first two championships and I just know that they must be in heaven sad, right now, because we no longer have the Houston Comets," Cooper-Dyke said.
Perrot was a walk-on of sorts who became a sparkplug in the backcourt in 1997 and 1998 before it was revealed she had cancer.
Asked her best memory, Cooper-Dyke responded, "I'ts always special to be the first and we were the first WNBA champion. But I think my mother's smile -- my mom was sitting on the podium after our second championship -- she was undergoing chemotherapy at the time. She couldn't really jump around like she wanted to.
"She was sitting on the podium and she had this huge sign that said: Super Cooper MVP. I was like -- look at my mom -- she's a groupie. And it was just a special moment for me.
"Because I no longer have her, I hang on to those moments very, very tight."
Asked about how she felt about being named the league's first MVP, Cooper-Dyke noted, "You have to remember I played in Italy for 10 years, I played in Spain one year before that -- Yeah, I'm old you guys. So for me to come back to America and be the first MVP, it was amazing.
"I was living the dream because I was able to show my family, my friends, old college buddies what I had been doing overseas for such a long time. And so I was able to come out and play really well in front of them.
"And of course my mom was ill, I was able to show her `Your little girl is succuessful. You did a great job, mom.' I cherish every moment and the fact we no longer I have that franchise, it's almost like you're taking away those moments and those memories. So it's a little sad."
Cooper-Dyke said the league will hold all the memorabilia for the next owner if the franchise resurfaces.
In Praise of Stringer and Prince
Cooper-Dyke, who starred on several NCAA champions at Southern Cal, discussed her thoughts several years ago when she took the coaching job agt Prairie View in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
"When I took the job at Prairie View, I definitely thought about Coach Stringer. She is such a role model to me. I just love her to death," Cooper-Dyke said.
"It's just the best. She's always helped me in everything I wanted to do. And so I definitely thought about her and the success she had at Cheyney and where she went from there. And I want to bring Prairie View to that same level -- we're not there yet, we're far from there. That is my goal -- to follow in the footsteps of C. Vivian Stringer."
Soon after Cooper-Dyke entered the room, she praised Rutgers junior Epiphanny Prince.
"I had a nightmare about her. I love her game. I told `Coach' earlier, I really love how Epiphanny plays. She is just a winner. She wants to win. I love it about her -- not tonight -- I didn't love it about her. She wants to win and she finds a way to get it done. I love it about her."
-- Mel
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