Physical Education Department

Kris Hooper is entering his second year as head boy’s basketball coach at Hillwood High School.  Coach Hooper came to Hillwood from the college ranks, where he spent 13 years serving as assistant coach at 6 universities in the southeast and Midwest.  Coach Hooper graduated high school from Hillsboro High School in Nashville, followed by degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia in History and English, a master’s degree from Tennessee State University in elementary education and a doctorate from Tennessee State University in Higher Education Administration.

Coach Hooper began his collegiate coaching career at Columbia College, an NAIA Division I school in Columbia MO.  He served as student assistant coach for two years in 1992 and 1993.  His duties included scouting, recruiting and working on the floor with the guards.  His teams at Columbia posted a 55-26 record with a Region X final appearance in 1993.

Coach Hooper followed Columbia College by taking an assistant position at Hastings College in Nebraska and then returning to Tennessee to take a similar position at Cumberland University in Lebanon in 1995. Following Cumberland, Coach Hooper spent one season at Tennessee State University leading them to an OVC tournament championship berth losing to Murray State.  He was pivotal in recruiting Brian Williams, 1998 OVC All-Tournament team, and 1999 OVC All-Newcomers, Corey Williams and Darwin Carter from California to Tennessee State University.

In 1998, Coach Hooper moved to Motlow State Community College to serve as top assistant to Lonnie Thompson.  Taking over a last place team, Coach Thompson and Coach Hooper built the program into back to back Eastern Division champions in 2000 and 2001.  Those championships teams posted an overall record of 48-13, a conference record of 18-2 and a TJCAA National ranking of #15 in the country.

In 2002, Coach Hooper followed Coach Thompson back to Cumberland University where they lead the Bulldogs to a first ever NAIA National Championship appearance, a first round win over Biola College from California, an overall record of 28-5 and a NAIA National #5 ranking.

Coach Hooper and his wife, Karen, have been married for six years. They have two sons, Seth, age 3, and Gavin, age 2, and daughter, Reagan 4 months.

Email Address:  kristofer.hooper@mnps.org