Dragan helped lead Cooper basketball team to district title — as a player and then as a coach

BY NAZARIO PANGALLO | LINK nky INTERN

Patrick Dragan, an assistant boys basketball coach at Cooper High School, was not only a part of the coaching staff that led the Jaguars to a 33rd District title this year, he also played on the 2014-2015 Cooper team that won the 33rd District championship.

It was Jan. 22, 2015, and the Cooper Jaguars Boy’s basketball team was sitting at 9-6 and looking like they could miss the Ninth Region tournament for the second straight season. They would then rattle off nine wins in their next eleven games, including wins over Conner in the district semifinals and Boone County in the district championship.

“It was really a special thing to be a part of, and then to be able to do it in my senior year on our home court was really really cool. That went down as one of my personal favorite memories as a player,” Dragan said. “I always just felt like I was never the most talented player. I just kind of felt like I knew where I needed to be in situations and things like that.”

Cooper Head Coach Tim Sullivan said that Dragan played with some really good players, so it was hard for him to get on the floor.

“His senior year guys got hurt,” Sullivan said. “Now all of a sudden he got to play out a bunch of minutes and he came right in and what’s he do? He just picks us right up and had some really big games down the stretch.”

On Feb. 11, 2023, the Cooper Jaguars were 12-11 and it seemed as if they stood no chance of knocking off the Conner Cougars in the 33rd district tournament. Two weeks later the Jaguars had defeated the Cougars in overtime and players and Coach Dragan were once again cutting down the nets in their home gym.

A 40% three-point shooter, Dragan played with future Divison I basketball players Sean McNeil and Adam Kunkel in their upset victory over the Boone County Rebels in the district finals in 2015. Dragan was able to keep that underdog mindset with this year’s Jaguar squad. Going into the Feb. 24 matchup against Conner, whom many believed the favorite to win the region, not many around Northern Kentucky gave Cooper much of a chance.

“We always had a couple of guards that were really really talented with Sean McNeil and Adam Kunkel,” Dragan said. “This year, we’ve got two sophomore guards in Yamil Rondon and Andy (Johnson), that started for us and do a lot of scoring and things like that.”

In 2015, Dragan, Kunkel, and McNeil combined for 27.8 points per game and this season Rondon, Johnson, and senior Gavin Lutz have combined for over 30 points for the Jaguars.

Dragan credits Sullivan for turning him into the player, and now the coach, that he is.

“I loved playing for Sully. He was truly a mentor off the court and on the court,” Dragan said. “I always knew he was there for me if I needed anything. And that’s something that I reiterate to players.”

Former and current Cooper basketball players have truly bought into Sullivan’s family mindset.

“I really think it’s just the culture of our program from day one has just been you know, it’s been a family, it’s been a brotherhood,” Sullivan said. “When you get young people to understand that it is about a bigger cause, and it’s about playing for others. It just resonates with them and they continue on with that in life and understanding that it is about serving and taking care of others.”

Sullivan said he loved the way, as a player, Dragan came in day in and day out and “would do anything to help the team and was never a selfish kid. Just kind of a really, really good teammate and did things the right way.

“I think they feel a sense of that belonging and that sense of loyalty to each other because of what they’ve been through,” Sullivan added.

That’s part of the reason why Dragan decided to return to Cooper to coach.

“I knew I wanted to be a coach one day and I just continue to stay around sports because sports have always just been a huge part of my life and make me what I am today,” Dragan said.

Everyone in the program loves Dragan, Sullivan said.

“It’s always nice to be a good cop but you know, there are days where he gets on guys pretty good, but he loves them just as hard and that’s a big thing,” Sullivan said.

NKU seals the deal in Horizon, headed to NCAA tournament

Junior guard Marques Warrick summed it up best for the Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team.

The team’s leading scorer said the trip to redemption started June 1, 2022 with summer workouts. The Norse wanted to make it back to the Horizon League title game and win it after last year’s tough loss to Wright State where they led most of the game, but lost 72-71 with a bad stretch at the end and missed the NCAA Tournament. But the Norse knew they’d receive the best shots from the other 10 Horizon League teams.

The Norse (22-12) survived the ups and downs of the regular season posting a 14-6 record in Horizon League play to earn the fourth seed. They knocked off Oakland in the quarterfinals then top-seeded Youngstown State in the semifinals to make it back to that spot. This time, the Norse made the plays to knock off the third-seeded Cleveland State Vikings (21-13), 63-61 in the championship game March 7 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum in Indianapolis.

“It was just unfinished business,” Warrick said. “We came in with a chip on our shoulder. We knew we had a good group of guys come in and a lot of guys returning. We knew we were going to be at the top of the league. But that didn’t really matter until

March. We worked our tails (off) all year.”

Northern Kentucky head coach Darrin Horn said he’s not thought nearly as much about last year as the players did. But he hated telling the Norse they could not play in the NCAA Tournament in 2020 as a result of the COVID pandemic after winning the Horizon League Tournament.

Eight individuals claim state titles at KTCCCA indoor meet

The Kentucky Track Cross Country Coaches Association state indoor meets were held on March 4-5 in Louisville for high schools across the state.

NKY participants earned nine state titles, including Walton-Verona’s Jackson Smith bringing home a pair of state titles in the Class A meet. Smith won the 60-meter dash in a time of 7.23 and also won the 200-meter dash in 23.25.

Smith’s Bearcats teammate Grady Shay won the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.67. Other individual state champs in the Class A meet were Beechwood’s Lily Parke in the 1,500 meters (4:54.20), St. Henry’s Cassidy Cline in the high jump (4-10), Bishop Brossart’s Chloe Hein in the long jump (16-04.75) and the Bishop Brossart boys 4×800 relay team (8:38.34) and the Bishop Brossart girls

4×400 relay team (4:19.20).

In the Class AA meet, Conner’s Isabella Vonlehman won the 200-meter dash in 25.37.

Brossart’s girls strong showing earned them runner-up in the Class A meet with 75 points, 15 points shy of first-place Lexington Christian Academy. Beechwood’s girls finished third with 71.5 points, St. Henry fourth with 40.5 points.

St. Henry’s boys had the top showing in the boys Class A meet, finishing second with 52.5 points. Walton-Verona was third with 46 points, Bishop Brossart fourth with 42 points.

Rump, Dougherty, Wera, Uhlman, New latest inductees to NKY HOF

The Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame inducted its newest Hall of Fame class on Wednesday, March 15 at the Gardens of Park Hills.

Ken Rump (Holy Cross), Suzy Wera (Beechwood), Michelle Dougherty (Dayton), Phil Uhlman (Conner) and Tom New (Highlands) are the latest inductees.

Rump is a 1965 graduate of Holy Cross High School and was a big part of the ‘65 Ninth Region champion basketball team that finished state runner-up. Rump led the team in scoring and rebounding before receiving a scholarship to Villa Madonna (Thomas More). Rump was an assistant coach on the 1973 Newport Central Catholic team that won a regional title.

Wera grew up in Michigan before making her way down to Kentucky at Beechwood High School, coaching boys golf and tennis before being named the school’s first-ever female Athletic Director in school history in 2012. In 18 seasons as golf coach, Wera guided them to a region runner-up and six state tournament appearances. They won 11 NKAC titles. In tennis, they were Ninth Region runners-up three times and won 11 NKAC championships and qualified six times for the state tournament. As Beechwood Athletic Director, Wera helped add elementary basketball, volleyball, boys and girls cross country and boys and girls bowl- ing, archery and boys soccer. She is responsible for the formation of the Beechwood Athletic Hall of Fame.

Dougherty is a 1997 Dayton High School grad. She was a sprinter and mid-distance runner for the track team from 1993-97, helping the Greendevils to four state runner-up finishes and a state championship. Dougherty won a Division II girls track NKAC Most Outstanding award. She earned a scholarship to Danville Community College and ran both cross-country and track – indoor and outdoor. Currently, she competes in obstacle course races, winning her age group and placing in the Top 25 overall with up to 200-800 runners. She released her own fitness magazine in January, 2022, while serving as an elite personal trainer and sports nutrition coach.

Uhlman is a 1980 Conner High School graduate, starring in baseball and basketball. Uhlman helped lead the Cougars to 33rd District titles in 1979 and ‘80 in basketball and named to the All-Tournament team. In the 1980 season, he was named to the AllNinth Region team and received the Dave Cowens Award while being placed on the All-Sectional team. In baseball, he was part of a co-no hitter in the 1979 region finals which got the Cougars to the state tournament where he was later named All-District and All-Region.He attended Erskine College and later transferred to Eastern Kentucky University to finish his collegiate career.

New is a 1983 Highlands High School grad and was a starting guard on two consecutive state championship teams in 1981 and ‘82. He coached at the Ft. Thomas Jr. League Level, starting a 40-year love affair with coaching. He officiated for 12 years and was later appointed assistant basketball coach at his alma mater for five seasons.

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