Defense was Paris Caldwell’s specialty at Kenmore High School.
She didn’t have to score. She was surrounded by ballers. All the All-City Series power forward had to do was D-up, get the rebound and start the fast break with an outlet pass.
More than a decade after Caldwell played in her last high school game, she’s preparing to suit up for the first-ever girls-women’s game at Hoop for Coop, an annual tournament that blends basketball and blood pressure checks. The ninth annual event will be held Saturday, May 31 at the James A. Rhodes Arena on the University of Akron campus.
What can Akron expect from Caldwell?
She’s not exactly retired from basketball, but as the assistant girls basketball coach at Garfield Community Learning Center, she spends more time sitting on the sidelines than sprinting up and down courts.
“’It’s gonna be a little bit of old ladies out there, but we’re gonna make it work,” Caldwell, 35, said, adding a laugh.
Several hundred boys and men — and now, women and girls — are expected to play in the tournament founded after the sudden death of Kimyata “Coop” Cooper Jr., a beloved family man and friend to many. In 2016, he died at age 34 due to heart failure while playing basketball.
In honor of his life, and to learn from his death, tournament participants must get their blood pressure checked and visit multiple health vendors on-site before they can step onto the court and play.
The goal is bigger than basketball: it’s to highlight preventable health issues.
“Everybody who participates must go through the same procedure,” said Jerome Moss, curator of the Hoop for Coop tournament and executive director of Guys & Gals Community Partnership.
This is the eighth year that the Hoop for Coop event will host a men’s health fair. The women ball players will undergo the same procedure as the men.
“Any opportunity for us to address healthy living, healthy lifestyles is important, prevention is important, knowledge of how to take care of ourselves and our bodies is very important,” said Carla Chapman, who won two state basketball titles at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. She’s also a 2000 inductee of the Summit County Hall of Fame.
“We are better equipped when we understand and know our risks.”
Women’s basketball continues to rise
Women’s basketball across the globe has enjoyed tremendous growth in recent years.
The 2024 WNBA season was the most-watched regular season, averaging 1.2 million viewers across ESPN’s platforms. Last year’s WNBA All-Star Game on ABC garnered 3.4 million viewers.
Caitlin Clark’s long-distance shooting and Angel Reese’s double-double performances, along with social media engagement has helped the women’s league enjoy an influx of new fans. That’s all good news to Chapman, whose basketball career includes winning four Big Ten championships at Ohio State University.
“It is awesome to see that women who have been deserving for so long are finally being recognized for their skill and their talents and abilities,” she said.
Chapman feels joy as she watches young girls see themselves in today’s current college and professional players, a level of awareness that wasn’t visible during her playing days.
“You couldn’t see something on ESPN or prime time television. You had to be physically present in a gymnasium to watch a game,” said Chapman, who currently serves as chief of Community Relations and Strategic Engagement at Akron Public Schools.
The future of women’s games at Hoop for Coop
This isn’t the first time Moss has attempted to include a women’s game at Hoop for Coop. In the past, the response fell short of creating a roster.
Kenneth “Coach Jo-Jo” Smith, the founder of Ladies First, a girls youth basketball organization, envisions this first women’s game as a stepping stone. Smith expects the event will draw more women for years to come. Not only is it an opportunity for exercise, he said, it’s a chance to highlight the women’s game, which “is often minimized compared to the guys.”
Caldwell and Smith agree that women often face obstacles that prevent them from suiting up. Weekend childcare. Not being in shape to keep up with competitive play.
Saturday’s game, though, won’t be minimized.
“We’re going to highlight that game just as much as we highlight our tribute games,” Moss said.
A basketball legacy continues in Akron
Caldwell’s mother, Yontami Jones, would be proud.
Jones was the head girls basketball coach at Kenmore and Kenmore-Garfield until she died in 2020. Caldwell took over the head coach position before stepping down from the position last season to serve as assistant coach.
“You couldn’t ask for a better parent, somebody that’s a pillar in the community, a great person to be around,” Caldwell said of her mother.
During Jones’ coaching tenure, she led her teams to numerous sectional titles, City Series championships and City Series postseason titles. Jones also played at the University of Akron from 1990-1994.
Caldwell said learned all that she knows about basketball from her mother. No wonder she plans to continue her legacy as she plays Saturday.
Besides playing in the game, Caldwell is looking forward to making some new memories alongside people she has old memories with.