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Photo submitted by Jessie Bitter — Steven Cooper dribbles his basketball across the Louie Morris Bridge on U.S. Highway 39 Tuesday morning past the Hartwell Dam on his way into South Carolina.
Steven Cooper isn’t interested in doing things half way. He can’t be if he is to complete his second trip dribbling a basketball across the entire breadth of the continental U.S.
When he decided to start running after realizing he had gotten to more than 200 pounds after losing his grandmother, Cooper set a goal. Soon he was running the Los Angeles Marathon.
That was in 2009. By 2010, he was running the Kauai Marathon in Hawaii in honor of his late grandmother, Ethel Tow.
After reading a book, “My Life on the Run,” by Bart Yasso, Cooper stepped it up again and entered a 56-mile footrace in South Africa.
By 2012, he was a member of the 100-mile club, a group of runners who’ve run 100-mile races that fight against childhood obesity.
He was then asked to join the Race Across USA team. In honor of the late ESPN sportscaster Stuart Scott and the late University of North Carolina basketball coach, Dean Smith, Cooper dribbled a basketball with the team for 267 miles across California.
While he was unable to finish the race across the country because he was called away for the consulting work he does with Tesla and SpaceX, among others, Cooper never let the idea of dribbling a basketball across the country out his head. When his mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in 2015, “It hit me like a pile of bricks and I knew then that I had to finish what I started.”
Cooper, or Coop, who is originally from Shoals, Ind., dribbled his basketball through Hart County this week on his way from the University of Georgia to Clemson and eventually on all seven campuses of the basketball teams that will compete in the upcoming Maui Invitational, a major preseason college basketball tournament. They are UGA, Virginia Tech, University of Dayton, Michigan State University, Kansas University, Brigham Young University and University of California Los Angeles, where he plans to finish. The trip started at Key West, Fla.
This is his second dribbling across America expedition. The first was in 2016 from Coronado Island, Calif. to Springfield, Mass. Along the 3,700-mile route, he ran the New York City Marathon and raised awareness and support for many charities and programs.
Cooper’s goal this time is similar. He is running to benefit his foundation, the 7773 Foundation, and the 100-mile club to empower and enrich the lives of youth through opportunities for brighter future. The 7773 Foundation got its name from his time living in Charlotte, N.C. where Interstate 77 and Highway 73 intersect. The foundation seeks to help other nonprofits with their missions and to educate and empower youth.
“This is all about giving back,” Cooper said. “This will never be about Coop dribbling the basketball.”
The Tesla support car following Cooper on his journey will be given away to someone who has donated at least $17.73 to his journey. The winner will also get tickets to the Maui Invitational.
For more information on the journey or to donate and enter to win the Tesla, go online to www.7773foundation.org.