Hines Furniture Players of the Year: Lakewood's Juwan Perdue, East Clarendon's Talaysia Cooper

JUWAN PERDUE
Lakewood High School
Boys Basketball

The senior averaged a double-double for Lakewood with 19 points and 10 rebounds per contest. He was an all-region and all-state selection and also played in the Carolinas Classic, an all-star game between the best players from South Carolina and North Carolina. Perdue has signed to play collegiately with NCAA Division I Jacksonville State.

“I feel like I improved on my leadership and how to take it on learning from past players. I wanted to be able to lead the team in as many ways as I possibly can. (As far as playing) definitely my athleticism continued to improve as well as my ballhandling skills.” -- Juwan Perdue

“Juwan was on the team as a freshman so he really had a chance to develop in our system. He became very familiar with what we wanted to do, and he was definitely a leader. He did a great job of leading the team. I’m glad he’s getting to play at the college level, and we have high expectations for him at Jacksonville State.” -- Former Lakewood High Head Coach Bryan Brown

TALAYSIA COOPER
East Clarendon High
Girls Basketball
The freshman averaged a double-double of 27 points and 11 rebounds per contest to go along with six steals, six assists and two blocked shots. She was selected as the 2A Player of the Year by the South Carolina Basketball Coaches Association.

“I think I improved a lot this year. I think I improved as a leader. If my team fell down, I would tell them it’s OK and that we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do. I really feel like I improved as a rebounder and in going to the basket and drawing fouls.” -- Talaysia Cooper

“Maturity was her biggest improvement this year. She really made a big jump in maturity in over a year’s time. We told her that she’s got to be ready because she was going to be double-teamed, triple-teamed, trapped, and she handled it really well. She also learned how to depend on her teammates, not try to do everything herself.” -- East Clarendon Head Coach Mike Lowder