by By Dan Ninham (Oneida)
In a come from behind win in this 2019-20 season’s Arizona 3A North Regional boys’ basketball tournament, #2 seed Chinle HS defeated #3 seed Monument Valley HS 87-83.
Cooper Burbank scored a game high 39 points for Chinle and was 16-16 on the free throw line. Each one was needed in crunch time in the closing minutes.
He led Chinle HS to a 20-12 record and a Sweet 16 berth in the 2019-20 Arizona 3A state tournament.
Cooper Burbank, 18, is a senior at Chinle HS, Chinle, AZ. His parents are Darrick and Joni Allen-Burbank and they live in Rock Point, AZ. They are Diné.
“I played two years varsity football but decided to focus on basketball,” said Cooper. “I played four years varsity basketball.”
Cooper was recently awarded The Navajo Times Co-Player of the Year honor. He shared the honor with Gallup HS’s Quinn Atazhoon. Cooper averaged 23 ppg and 8 rpg. This is his second consecutive season winning the award. Atazhoon was a 4A First Team All State team member.
Cooper was named Region Offensive Player of the Year 2017-2018, Region Player of the Year 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 3A Conference First Team 2018-2019, 2019-2020, and All Arizona Conference 3rd Team.
Cooper was also in the spotlight as the Netflix filming crew was following him and the Chinle Wildcats for the second run of “Basketball or Nothing”. This documentary series initially filmed the team during the 2017-18 season. They were back this past season to focus on the team journey through their senior stars and families and with Head Coach Raul Mendoza.
“I grew up watching my dad play in tournaments and watched the competitive nature he had in him,” said Cooper. “Being around him at home too, built my competitive nature side part in me. My father and my mother were the ones who taught me a lot of the game. They were being my coaches and critics to build my game.”
“In Junior HS, Cooper was asked to play with a basketball club called Northern Elite,” said mom Joni Allen-Burbank. “Coach Rick Destea offered Cooper a spot on the team and Cooper took the spot willingly. This was a great opportunity to grow and develop more. Coop continues to play with this team for about six years now. The team travels extensively, and made appearances at NABI, Big Foot Hoops: Easter Showdown, Las Vegas Classic, Adidas Gauntlet events and many other national tournaments. Coop came off the bench and worked his way to being part of the starting group in each game. We always told him that he needed to learn to play with many type of players, that he has much to learn from others as they can learn from him as well.”
“Cooper entered Chinle High School in the fall of 2016-2017, the summer before his freshman year, and he started off season practice with Coach Raul Mendoza. He knew no one on the team. He took advantage of getting to know the team, the area and other team players. He played in various tournaments that summer and was playing with the varsity team by the end of the summer. Eventually when the season started in the winter, he made the varsity team. Coach Mendoza said Cooper was very mature and he had a great sense of the game. He mentioned that Coop was very coachable and that he was willing to put in the hard work,” added Joni.
“We always tell Cooper that he has to earn what he wants,” said Joni. “He cannot simply just walk onto a team and expect to get all the playing time. He understood this because we coached him before and that is what we always emphasized to our players. We also told players that they need to study players, the coaches and plays, that basketball is much bigger than they think.”
“I know I need a strong base of strength,” said Cooper. “I make sure to stay true to myself always and not be who I know I’m not. I make sure I’m in the best shape I can be in to perform in. I’m in the weight room before, during, and after the season. I can never be satisfied. This always pushes me to be better every time. I keep a strong mentality for myself, knowing I could be the best I am striving to become better. I always have to refresh my mind and come back to myself, be at peace with myself before I go forth with anything.”
“I know that with the abilities I have, it isn’t just my work. I give thanks to my God who takes care of me and blesses me with everything. With him, anything is possible to me, and therefore I go about knowing I can be and do anything. In times of tough situations, I remember why I’m in the moment. I know it’s because I wanted to do it. So in basketball, whenever it would get tough, I remember why I play. I play because it’s a love of the game. And it makes me realize, why I’m in that scenario,” added Cooper.
“With the pandemic going on, it has stopped a lot but I find ways to make up for all the time that could’ve been spent training,” said Cooper. “Being at home feels great for me, because I’m finally back at my original home. Being at an apartment for school, has be aching to go home. Now that I am, I get to do more things. I find myself watching old game film as if I’m still in the season. Breaking down what I can do to improve myself. I’m still finding ways to improve myself. Being away from the weight room, I felt was a factor lost from this. Equipment isn’t available as it is there. But with my belief of there are always a way, I was able to find old weights around our land. Everyday, I keep looking for more equipment that could help me. Now, I am able to still be in good shape as this pandemic is taking place.”
“I feel more of a connection built with those we are close too. I’m around my family and get to spend quality time with them before my plans take place. I couldn’t ask for more time being spent with my grandmother. I’m enjoying walking over to her house and just relax,” added Cooper.
“As I grew up and was about to go into high school, my mom and I would attend games at the school I was likely to be attending. There, I watched a player named Aaron Husen. I enjoyed how he played, and to make it better, he was wearing number 10. He graduated before I could get to high school. But later down the road, we began to know one another and he was like a big brother to me. He began helping me out with strength conditioning.”
“I first met Cooper when I was a senior in high school in 2014,” said Aaron Husen. “I played football for Chinle HS and we hosted a youth summer football camp. Cooper was in one of my groups. What caught my attention was how advanced his skills were at the age he was at. I knew he was going to be an amazing athlete from then on. In 2017, I became a volunteer assistant for the boys’ basketball program. From there our relationship has grown on and off the court.”
“When Cooper was a sophomore I knew then he was a great basketball player, but I didn’t think he could continue to be greater. Cooper always had a strong leadership role and characteristic about him. His mentality has always been to win and put everything on the court. When Cooper plays it’s like he’s in a mindset of his own, he knows what he’s going to do and how he is going to execute it. Cooper is never selfish, and he always has the team involved. He is humble in so many ways. You will never hear him brag about himself or talk down about anyone else. His dedication to the game is impeccable.”
“I’ve seen him dedicate so many hours of his own time to be in the weight room or shooting around just to better himself. That’s his mentality, and he’s never satisfied where he is at now. He knows there is always room to be better and to improve. As a coach, I’ve never seen a more coachable athlete. Cooper is always seeking knowledge about the game. If he’s given a task he will complete it with 100% effort,” added Aaron.
“Even off the court, Cooper displays characteristics of a respectable young man,” said Aaron. “He does what he has to around the house. His siblings admire him so much. His parents are proud, and they definitely should be. They raised a well-mannered and humble young man. Cooper has always put school first in everything he does. His faith is strong. I wish there were more young men in the world like Cooper Burbank. I know he will do great things on and off the court, and this is only the beginning for him.”
“My high school coach, Raul Mendoza, always knew I could be the best,” said Cooper. “He always reminded me, but let me know it won’t be easy and I’d have to work for it. During the summers, I’d be around him most of the time in the gym, weight room, team tournaments, and practices. He would open up the gym whenever I wanted to come in. My coach believed in me, as well as my parents and Aaron.”
“I met Cooper in the summer of 2016 as he was to enter his freshman year at Chinle HS,” said Raul Mendoza, head boys’ basketball coach at Chinle HS. “I had him play with junior varsity during our summer program. He played in one tournament with the junior varsity team and I noticed that his game was well beyond his peers. His knowledge and skill level was well beyond most of older players that were participating in the summer program.”
“When I figured that he was ready to play at the varsity level, I pulled aside and asked him how he felt about playing with the older players for the rest of the summer. He readily accepted the challenge. He showed a lot of maturity that he never tried to do more than what he was capable. He is one individual that I never had to worry about in terms of attitude. His attitude was great throughout his high school career and he understood how to play the game of basketball that made it a pleasure to work with him,” added Coach Raul.
“When tryouts came in November, he made the varsity team,” said Coach Raul. “He came off the bench the first few games and played well. He became a starter about a third into the regular season and he was the second leading scorer on the team with about 10 points per game.”
“After his freshman year, he led the team in scoring with 18.6 ppg, 20.6 ppg and 21.7 as well in rebounding through his high school career at Chinle HS,” said Coach Raul. “He finished with 2,207 points in his high school career. He was the team captain from his sophomore through his senior year. In his sophomore year, he was selected as the offensive player of the year in our region, junior and senior he was selected as player of the year in the 3A North Region in the state of Arizona. He was also named to the 3A all state first team in the past three years.”
“In the 40 years of my coaching career, I will always consider myself very fortunate to have the opportunity of coaching Cooper,” said Coach Raul. “His maturity was beyond his peers both off and on the court from the time that he started high school. His work ethic is one of his strengths that he would ask to come in the mornings before class to work on his shot. His work ethic paid off that he shot 48% from inside the arc, 39% from beyond the arc and shot 84% from free throw line in his high school career.”
“I believe that Cooper worked his way to be one of the top players in all the state of Arizona,” said Coach Raul.
Photo Credit: Sports Zone Radio
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