Scott County point guard will play for Mark Price at UNC Charlotte

Cooper Robb, the point guard on Scott County’s state-tournament basketball team last season, will play college basketball for one of the NBA’s most memorable point guards.

Robb, a senior-to-be, committed to UNC Charlotte on Monday. The 49ers are coached by Mark Price, who was four-time NBA All-Star with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Robb was the first player in the class of 2018 to commit to the program, which plays in Conference USA.

Getting to play for and be coached by someone who played in the league was an attractive proposition, Robb said.

“The campus is really pretty and Charlotte’s just a great city in general,” he said. “There’s a whole bunch of good opportunities for me in the future and I just like what they had.”

Robb, who was MVP of the 11th Region tournament and named to the Sweet Sixteen all-tournament team, averaged 14.9 points and five rebounds last season for the Cardinals. Scott County went 31-6 and lost to eventual state champion Bowling Green in the Sweet Sixteen quarterfinals; it will enter the 2017-18 season as one of the favorites to win it all.

Coach Billy Hicks said Robb — who also plays baseball and football for Scott County — will be “so much better on down the road” as a basketball player.

“Playing all three sports has probably made him a better athlete,” Hicks said. “Now he can take that when he goes to college and I think he’s got a really good future ahead of him.”

Price, who was 6-feet tall and considered too slow to play in the NBA, was most known for his shooting ability. He was the second player —after Larry Bird —to shoot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three-point range and 90 percent from the free-throw line, doing so in the 1988-99 season. He won the All-Star game’s three-point contest twice.

Hicks said that Robb may already be a better defender than his future coach was. Robb is taller than Price — 6-foot-2 — but not as consistent of a shooter; his splits were 47.5 percent (field goal), 29 percent (three-pointers) and 74.1 percent (free throws) as a junior.

“I sure hope Cooper can get to where he can shoot like Mark Price,” Hicks said with a laugh.

This story was originally published August 2, 2017 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Scott County point guard will play for Mark Price at UNC Charlotte."