(2024) SF - Cooper Koch

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Per his AAU team, 6'8" Koch was offered today.  He attends Peoria Notre Dame HS in Peoria, IL.   Maybe we can get a little unofficial help from A. J. Guyton on Koch.

247

Rivals

https://www.pjstar.com/story/sports/2020/12/16/peoria-notre-dame-freshmen-prepared-by-famous-fathers/3888792001/

From a Wisky website 2 days ago:  

2024 wing Cooper Koch (Peoria, Ill.) out of Peoria Notre Dame is the latest prospect to receive an offer from the Badgers and Greg Gard. He is currently unranked by all of the recruiting service, but that’s normal for players from a class that isn’t close to enrolling in college. Koch already has offers from Bradley, Iowa, Wake Forest and Western Illinois to go along with his Badgers offer. Rivals notes that Illinois and Purdue are showing interest too.

Standing at 6-foot-7 and weighing a bit over 200 pounds, Koch already has good size for a rising sophomore. His father, J.R., is 6-foot-10 and played basketball at Iowa before having a six-year career overseas, so there is probably still room for some growth. The older Koch was a teammate of current Wisconsin assistant coach Dean Oliver while in Iowa City which should help the Badgers develop a good relationship.

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

https://www.thedailyhoosier.com/iu-basketball-recruiting-hoosiers-offer-class-of-2024-forward-cooper-koch/?fbclid=IwAR1_oPS94ssvbPyes2Qgt57GCAl_c4xhsrYG9ZYBj5_YPjdTao7GHC-6kig

[schoosier]

His shooting form is very good for someone his size. I can understand this offer since he should add a couple inches also.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

An Iowa website but we do get mentioned. 

 https://iowa.rivals.com/news/koch-trying-to-keep-his-options-open

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Illinois offered.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Per Rabby, Koch is on an unofficial to Bloomington today. 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Cooper Koch @CooperKoch44

Had a great time on my unofficial visit to Indiana University today! Thanks for everything…looking forward to next time.

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Rabby with a story on Koch behind the paywall but Koch responded to Rabby's promotional tweet of the story.

 

Cooper Koch @CooperKoch44

Thanks for the article. I am looking forward to getting back for a game.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Peoria Notre Dame defeated by Richwoods 52 - 45.  Koch with 19 pts. on 8-12 FG for PND.

Extract rom the Peoria Journal Star  --  Koch's 19-point effort against the Knights was a career high, coming on 8-for-12 shooting to go with four rebounds, a steal and a block. He also showed his range, hitting a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers 44 seconds apart to help erase a four-point deficit.

Full background story:  https://www.pjstar.com/story/sports/high-school/basketball/2021/12/05/ihsa-basketball-peoria-notre-dame-cooper-koch-continues-improve/8867413002/?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot

Edited December 5, 2021 by Class of '66 Old Fart
Added narrative and story link

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Peoria Notre Dame over Normal West 66 - 51.  Fortunately I was able to watch a stream of the game because you'd never know what happened from the Peoria Journal Star.  But I digress.  First time I've seen Koch play and I thought he runs the court very well.  He's active on the offensive end and I thought there were times he could have easily made a move to the bucket but opted to pass it out to an open teammate.  I had him with 18 pts. on 6-10 FG; 2-4 on 3s; 4-4 FT; 5 reb; 3 asst; 2 stl; 1 blk; 1 TO.  

 

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Peoria Notre Dame (7-1)  over IVC 48-20.  Game was on YouTube if you're interested.  Total mismatch from the opening tipoff.  I had Koch with 10 pts; 2 reb; 4 asst; 4 stls; 1 blk; 0 TO.

 

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Peoria Notre Dame (8-1) participating in the Plano Christmas Classic and defeated Newark in its opening game 53-31.  Game was over early as Newark was clearly the inferior team but playing 4 games in 4 days, the PND starters got lots of rest.  Koch finished with 12 ps. on 5-7 FG; 0-1 on 3s; 2-2 FT; 1 reb; 3 asst; 4 stl; 0 blk; 2 TO.  PND faces Kaneland tonight at 9:30 ET.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

In game #2 of the Plano tournament Peoria beat Newark but never saw any game summaries.  In a semifinal game on Wed., Peoria beat Kaneland 33-30 in a game that was painful to watch.  Sloppy ball handling and terrible shooting by both teams.  Koch finished with 12 pts. on 5-8 FG; 0-2 on 3s; 2-3 FT; 3 reb; 0 asst; 3 stl; 1 blk; 2 TO.  In the championship game Peoria (9-2) was beaten in OT by Burlington Central 56-54.  The quality of the stream was horrible but I scored Koch with 11 pts; 4 reb; 1 asst; 0 stl; 1 blk; 3 TO.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Last night Peoria Notre Dame moved to 11-2 on the season with a 64-42 win over Urbana.  I had Koch with 16 pts. on 6-10 FG; 4-5 on 3s; 0 FT; 3 reb; 3 asst; 3 stl; 0 blk; 1 TO.

To my untrained eye he has a nice shooting stroke and he throws very crisp passes.  When he receives a pass, he either makes a move or immediately passes off to a teammate.  He's not one to catch it and just hold it or take the single dribble and then have to pass it off.

In my neck of the woods we have families with the KOCH surname who pronounce it 'COKE'.  Catching a rare PND game that was on YouTube, the PND announcers pronounced it 'KOTCH'.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

In a hyped game between Peoria Notre Dame and St. Rita's the highly touted sophomore's were mostly subdued as PND took a 50-38 win.  St. Rita has Morez Johnson who had an IU look while Archie was still coaching but no apparent interest from Woody and staff.  The event was the Highland Shootout and this is Eric Bossi's comments  --

Of the group, Johnson probably had the best night finishing with eight points and eight rebounds. There is zero question that he’s got the makings of a Big Ten body and Big Ten athleticism and he’s a tough dude who plays with a real mean streak. The elbow jumper is eventually going to be an asset of his to go along with his toughness around the rim and ability to run the floor. His teammates Brown and Reyna didn’t fare as well scoring three points between the two of them.

As for Koch, we’ve seen him before and know that he can shoot the ball and has some versatility as a big wing or a combo forward. He’s also proven to be a tough competitor and slick passer. It was just a bit of a quiet night for him, and he finished with six points, three rebounds and a pair of assists.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Peoria Notre Dame (13-3) defeated by Normal HS (19-1) in a battle of ranked teams 47-46.  PND had the ball out under its own basket with 5 sec. remaining.  Perfect inbound pass but the kid missed the layup and NHS rebounded the miss for the win.  I had Koch with 12p  6r  2a  3s  2b  1t    Shot 4-5FG and 3-4 FT.

 

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Peoria Notre Dame (13-4) defeated Pekin (3-13) 61-35.  I had Koch with 25 pts on 11-12 FG; 3-3 on 3s; 0 FT; 6 reb; 2 asst; 0 stl; 0 blk; 1 TO.  He scored 11 of his points in the first quarter when PND raced out to a 23-12 lead and he sat out the entire 4th Q.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Last night Peoria Notre Dame beat Peoria Central 49-30.  I scored Koch with 17 pts; 7 reb; 0 asst; 1 stl; 0 blk; 3 TO.

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

Peoria Notre Dame  59   Champaign Centennial 52.  Nice game for Koch with a double double 25p  11r  21  2s  2b  3t

[Class of '66 Old Fart]

I'm impressed.

Peoria Notre Dame 66 Yorkville Christian 45.  Cooper Koch a brilliant 27 points and PND defense holds Duke recruit Jaden Schutt to 14 points