Six days after a crushing 71-46 defeat to Louisville in the quarterfinal of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, Syracuse was back home practicing in the Carmelo K. Anthony Center.

But all week, they’d seen news begin to pile up. The possibility of playing in empty stadiums. Conferences suspending play. Added public health guidelines at the men’s tournament. The outbreak of the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 threatened all aspects of life, and SU’s women’s basketball team could see the writing on the wall.

So when coaches called a meeting after practice on March 12, players already had time to prepare for the harsh reality that their season was over.

“We had a feeling,” senior guard Gabrielle Cooper said. “It wasn’t sudden. When the news actually broke, it was just like, ‘Damn. It’s actually been confirmed.’”

The team meeting cemented SU’s blowout loss to Louisville as the last game of Cooper’s collegiate career. She went 0-for-5 from 3, scoring eight points in 39 minutes in a forgettable game.

What Cooper will be remembered for, though, is consistency and durability throughout her four-year career. She missed just two games at SU, starting all but one contest. As a senior, Cooper was the team’s emotional leader, the one who often led the pregame “Waddup squad” chant and sparked the team with effort plays.

“Gabby’s going to go after every loose ball,” Kiara Lewis, who played AAU ball with Cooper before SU, said on Nov. 20. “She’s a leader. She’s going to talk. She’s going to be loud. I think that’s something we need.”

As a freshman in 2016, Cooper became the first Orange rookie to start a game since 2014. She finished her career with 1,117 points (20th in program history), 127 games started (sixth) and 268 made 3-pointers (second).

Now, with her eyes on professional basketball, Cooper reflected on the past four years, her favorite memories of Quentin Hillsman and more while in self-quarantine in her Lansing, Illinois home.

The Daily Orange: How’s quarantining going?
Gabrielle Cooper: Just catching up on a lot of sleep, I guess. You know? Catch up on a lot of sleep, watching a lot of Netflix, spending a lot of time with my family. It’s been cool.

D.O.: Everyone you know safe and healthy for the most part?
G.C.: Yeah.

D.O.: What are some of your favorite moments from your career?
G.C.: Some of my favorite highlights were when we were playing UNC my sophomore year. We went off that game. We were at Carmichael (Arena). It felt like I was throwing a golf ball into the ocean. Everybody was just on. Everybody had a good day. I had eight 3s, (Miranda) Drummond had seven 3s, Tiana (Mangakahia) had three or four 3s — it was like everybody was scoring when they touched the ball. It was fun.

But I also remember that game, I had a rebound in the fourth quarter, and the ball came off the rim — I was basically right underneath the basket, right in the middle of the paint — and it came down right in my hands. I’m like ‘Oh, rebound.’ And it literally went right through my arms. And the other team got it. I think I might’ve fouled (to stop them). It was so bad of a miss. Right through my hands. It wasn’t like someone was grabbing me, going over my head or anything. It literally went right through my hands. I couldn’t believe it. And then I got hit in the face. I thought I broke my nose. It literally felt like I broke my nose. Other than those things, it was fun.

D.O.: If you could go back in time, would you change anything?
G.C.: Yeah. I would change a few things. I’d put a lot more wins in our column. From that standpoint. I’m personally pretty satisfied with my career, you know? Everybody always says, ‘I wish I could’ve done more,’ I feel like. But, you know, from the real college perspective and basketball, I’m pretty satisfied.

D.O.: What would you tell “Freshman Year Gabby Cooper?”
G.C.: Oh man. I’d tell her so much. If I could go back in time, I’d change the whole future. But you can’t do things like that. One of the biggest things I’d tell myself is to keep your head up all the time. Never let stuff get you down. Make basketball your safe haven.

At the same time, basketball will mess you up a little bit. You’ve got to just keep trying no matter how hard it gets. You live and you learn. Everything’s either a blessing or a lesson.

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D.O.: SU is bringing in the fourth-ranked recruiting class next year. Have you talked to any of them? What can they expect from Syracuse basketball?

G.C.: Yeah. All their visits. Went to all their visits and talked to all of them. They’re all good. They’re ready to come in and work hard.

They can expect to learn a lot. They can expect to run a lot. They can expect to play one of the harder zones I’ve ever played in, probably the hardest. But, they’ll just have to work hard.

D.O.: Kiara Lewis is also planning on coming back for her final season of eligibility. Did you talk to her about that decision either during or after the season?
G.C.: A little bit. I love Kiki. I let Kiki do her own thing, because, you know, it’s not my thing. Everybody has (to make decisions). I didn’t know what she was going to do. But I’m happy for her.

D.O.: Favorite Coach Q story?
G.C.: Favorite Coach Q story! Man! I have a lot of Coach Q moments. I mean, I’m going to give you a few of them, hold up.

So, one day, this is just one that comes to mind. Q will run after practice sometimes in the weight room. And we’re shooting around and stuff, and we see, one day, Q got up on the treadmill and he got off and fell. Nobody saw it but me, but it was the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. He didn’t fall fall, but he stumbled far. That was pretty funny.

He used to, my freshman year, he used to have these black Roshe runners, and every time he’d wear them, he’d trip in practice. Every single time. Like we would just wait for it. He would literally trip all of the time.

One time — this was a not funny moment, but it was funny. He was yelling at us for something, I can’t remember why, but his lips were dry so he started putting on lip balm in the middle of him screaming at us. And that moment was the funniest thing of our lives.

He was yelling at us, and in the middle of him yelling at us, he started putting on lip balm. When he did it, he said “I’m a star.” I can’t remember exactly, but “I’m a star.” So everybody for the rest of the season, whenever anybody put on lip balm they would always say that, just like Q did that day.

D.O.: What do you want to be remembered for at Syracuse?
G.C.: Great competitor. A great shooter. A good person. I want to be known especially for making fans laugh, smile. Interacting with them all. Seeing them wear SU shirts, hats, etc. That’s more important to me. It became more than just a player and a fan. I tried to make that connection, go deeper than that. I want to be known as that.

Our fans are great. I mean, my fans, they know who they are. They’re awesome. We have a lot of loyal fans, and I appreciate them for coming to all of our games. We really appreciate you guys.

This interview was lightly edited for brevity and clarity.

Published on March 31, 2020 at 9:23 pm

Contact Danny: dremerma@syr.edu | @DannyEmerman