Barren County coach Warren Cunningham describes senior standout Jared Coomer as a “gym rat” due to all the hours that he has dedicated to playing basketball—doing activities such as coming in early and getting up shots before school, working out in the weight room, and shooting even more shots after practice or on Sunday afternoons.
All that hard work has finally paid off for Coomer.
The Trojan senior will continue his academic and basketball career at Air Force as he signed his letter of commitment with the Falcons on Friday morning in the Barren County Media Center in front of his family, friends, teammates and coaches.
“It’s kind of a dream come true,” Coomer said. “I’ve been wanting to play college ball since I was a little kid, and to play at the Division I level means a lot. Air Force is in the Mountain West Conference, and that’s a really good conference. It’s just a dream come true.”
But Coomer has not only excelled on the hardwood. His 3.6 GPA and ACT score of 27 to complement his basketball ability is another reason Cunningham thinks Coomer is getting this remarkable opportunity.
“I’m proud of him,” Cunningham said. “It’s good for our school, basketball program and it’s good for our younger guys to see that with combination of the skills, the work ethic and the academic side of it the opportunities that you can have. That’s what (Coomer) has. He’s put a great deal of time into it. He’s a great student, and he’s a great player.”
Coomer will play at the Falcons’ prep school for one season before getting an appointment to enter the academy next year. Prior his recruitment Coomer had no interest in going into the service, but began to welcome the idea when discovering the benefits that he would reap by playing for Air Force.
“I actually hadn’t thought about going into military before this, but I started learning about it and it was pretty interesting,” Coomer said. “They have a guaranteed job for me after I graduate, so that’s a great deal.”
The Trojan senior averaged a double-double with 16.9 points and 10.6 rebounds this past season, and he finished seventh-all time on Barren County’s scoring list with 1,335 points for his career. Coomer also hauled down 790 rebounds during his career—a time in which he played in all 128 games while in high school.
Coomer now joins his older brother and former Barren County teammate Wade Coomer in the college ranks. Wade is on the team at Olney Central College in Illinois, and he is currently averaging eight points and four rebounds per game for the Knights so far this season.
As the younger Coomer prepares for Division I basketball, he realizes that there will be a change of pace at the next level.
“There will definitely be a lot of obstacles,” Coomer said. “The game will be a lot faster and I have to get stronger. But the fact that I’m a little taller and can play the guard position will definitely work in my favor.”
“The speed of the game and physicalness of the game are two big factors,” Cunningham said. “He’s got to get stronger and he knows that. But the good thing is he played in several different spots for us, and he had a lot of different roles for us. It’ll be more defined once he gets to the next level.”
Coomer will graduate from Barren County this May and leave Glasgow later this summer to begin a new chapter of his life in Colorado. But he will never forget his friends and family back home, and he will always carry with him the lessons he learned from the Barren County basketball program…especially one in particular.
“(Cunningham) has taught me a lot of things over my four years,” Coomer said. “I guess the main thing is to just fight at all times and keep working, and everything else will take care of itself.”
