Indiana State University Athletics

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State Basketball head coach Greg Lansing announced today (Oct. 16) that Cooper Neese has transferred into the Sycamore program from Butler. Neese, who has enrolled in classes at Indiana State University, will sit out the 2017-18 season as well as the fall semester of the 2018-19 campaign before he begins play with Sycamore Basketball in December of 2018.
 
"We're just happy to have Cooper joining us," Lansing said. "Our staff and players got to know he and his family during the time we recruited him.  We always felt like we had a great chance to get him and we were a great fit. Adding him to our returners next year is exciting to think about. He's ready to work hard and help us all he can until then." 
 
Neese is a 6-4 guard from nearby Cloverdale, Ind., where he played for head coach Patrick Rady at Cloverdale High School. He led his high school team to a 62-21 record and three sectional championships over the past three seasons. As a senior in 2016-17, Neese was fourth in the state in scoring averaging 27.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. He was one of four finalists for Indiana Mr. Basketball and was on the Indiana All-Star team. Neese made 40 percent of his shots from 3-point range during his senior season in leading the Clovers to the IHSAA Regional round.
 
He is both a three-time captain and three-time all-conference selection. As a junior, he averaged 29.5 points per game and made more than four three-pointers per contest. He was the state of Indiana's third-leading scorer as a junior and earned a spot on the Indiana Junior All-Star team. He competed with the UA Indy Hoosiers on the AAU circuit where he played for coach Mike Peterson.
 
Neese finished his career with 2,496 career points scored which is seventh-best in the Indiana High School Basketball history. He becomes the first Top 10 IHSAA career scorer to join the Sycamore program. Neese will team with Tyreke Key who also was a Top 10 career scorer in his native of state of Tennessee with 3,287 points scored.
 
He originally signed with Butler before transferring into the Sycamore program and enrolling during the Fall of 2017.
 
The Sycamores are in the midst of preseason camp and will open the season with an exhibition contest on Friday, November 3 at 7 pm (ET) against Marian inside Hulman Center. The regular season begins on Friday, November 10 with a trip to Indiana set for Assembly Hall in Bloomington at 7 pm live on Big Ten Network Plus.