Former Central College men’s basketball player Zach Cooper, a 2010 graduate, died unexpectedly Thursday. Cooper, 32, was working as video analyst and player development coach for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers. A three-time varsity letter winner as a 6-foot-8 center from Johnston, Cooper averaged 5.8 points and 6.8 rebounds for Central’s 2009-10 Iowa Conference championship squad which posted a 23-5 record and advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament.

He received the team’s Gary Dirksen Achievement Award. He received a master’s degree at the University of Arkansas and worked with the school’s women’s basketball program before also serving in the video departments for the women’s basketball programs at the University of Houston and the University of Tulsa. He was director of scouting and video for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream until last fall when he took the position with the Trail Blazers. A memorial is being set up through Central College.