Naperville Central junior Casey Cooperkawa seemed like a quiet kid to new boys basketball coach Mike Wilson.
But Wilson, who was beginning his first year as coach last summer, soon realized he was wrong.
“I was under the false impression that he was on the shy side,” Wilson said. “But then I noticed that what I saw as being quiet was just that everybody was always around him, so he didn’t have to speak real loud.
“All of his teammates gravitate toward him. So do his coaches.”
That’s true outside of the boys basketball program too. Cooperkawa also draws in teammates and coaches in baseball. He’s a starting infielder and pitcher for the Redhawks (7-5, 2-1), who won two of three games against Neuqua Valley this week in their first DuPage Valley Conference series of the season.
“He’s a tone setter,” Naperville Central baseball coach Mike Stock said. “I watched him play basketball this season, and it just hit me how it’s going to translate to playing baseball.
“He’s not out there to look good. He’s not out there to get eyes on him for other levels. He’s all about winning, and that’s contagious.”
As the fourth of five children who all are athletes, Cooperkawa has competitiveness seared into him.
“Any game or little thing, even if it’s not a sport, I always want to win,” he said. “I just don’t want to go out there and not give my best effort.”
As Cooperkawa grinds through the baseball season this spring, he continues to play basketball on the weekends, hitting open gyms and logging lift sessions with his teammates.
“It’s really rare to be able to do that,” Wilson said. “He’s just got such a high motor.”
Cooperkawa’s motor got Wilson’s attention early in the Naperville Central boys basketball team’s season-opening game against Hinsdale Central just before Thanksgiving. All-state second-team pick Vincas Buzelis, the younger brother of Chicago Bulls rookie Matas Buzelis, caught a pass in the corner and was wide open in front of the Redhawks’ bench. Cooperkawa, who seemed to be stuck in the paint, raced to the 3-point line.
“He tipped the shot,” Wilson said. “I turned to my assistant coach and said, ‘Well, we’re going to have to find Casey more minutes this season.’”
They did, and Wilson believes Cooperkawa is in line to be a captain in his senior season.
“It would be a surprise if he wasn’t,” Wilson said. “Feel free to print that.”
Cooperkawa’s maturity is noteworthy too.
“I take losses well,” he said. “I think about what I could have done better and about why we could have won that game.”
Stock thinks that mindset would make Cooperkawa successful in a third sport.
“He could be a really good golfer because he’d forget a bad shot and go after the next one,” Stock said.
But Cooperkawa has gone down that road already.
“I have a nasty slice,” he said. “It’s thanks to my baseball swing.”
Cooperkawa said he’ll stick to baseball and basketball for as long as he can. This spring, his main goal is to stay sharp as the Redhawks try to improve on their 17-15 record last season.
“I want to try not to make any mental errors,” Cooperkawa said. “I want to always be in the right position and just have good communication and talking with my teammates.”
Cooperkawa does well in the classroom too. His grades are “off the charts,” according to Stock. In between baseball games, lifts and open gyms, Cooperkawa works on things like AP Calculus as he ponders an engineering major in college.
On the field, Cooperkawa has the faith of everyone around him.
“We trust him,” Stock said. “We trust that he’s going to force the other team to beat him because he’s not going to beat himself. He’d be the same way if he started playing soccer tomorrow or any other sport. Just all about winning.”
Sam Brief is a freelance reporter.
