Tammy (Wilkinson) Cooley is a native of Potosi, Wisconsin. She attended Potosi Schools from first grade through her sophomore year. She has been the Director of Pupil Services and School Psychologist at Potosi Schools for the last nine years. She has also been the head coach of the volleyball team for the last two years, and prior to that coached Saturday League Basketball for middle schoolers. Mrs. Cooley loves athletics, and some people may not know that she was a Division 1 basketball player.
Tammy Cooley moved to central Illinois after her sophomore year at Potosi High School when her mom took a job in Peoria, Illinois. She started her junior year at Richwoods High School in Peoria, Illinois, but was only there for about 2 weeks. Her family could not find a home in Peoria and the teenaged Mrs. Cooley was completely overwhelmed by the size of Richwoods. Mrs Cooley said, “We found a home in Morton, Illinois, which is the size of Platteville, and it was a better fit for me since I am not a big city girl.” Morton High School was less overwhelming and a place where she was quickly comfortable since her new classmates and teammates were very welcoming.
At Morton, Mrs. Cooley was a 3 sport all-conference athlete in volleyball, basketball, and track. Though she loved all of these sports, basketball was her favorite and the one she received the most recognition for. Mrs. Cooley is still a school record holder in basketball at Morton High School for points per game, rebounds per game, and season field goal percentage. She was an Illinois Basketball Coaches Association All-Star and scored over 1000 points in her two years playing for the Morton Potters.
During her senior high school basketball season, Mrs. Cooley had representatives from several colleges come to recruit her. She chose to attend Illinois Central College (ICC), a NJCAA Division 2 school. She was awarded a 2-year full athletic scholarship to play basketball. Mrs. Cooley commented, “I didn't know if I wanted to go to college, and the scholarship helped make that decision easier.” Another deciding factor in her decision to attend ICC was her mentor and MHS basketball coach, Ms. Lynn Rudin. “Coach Rudin helped get me connected with Coach Lorene Ramsey since she had played at ICC for Coach Ramsey too.” Mrs. Cooley stated, “Having the opportunity to play for one the most respected and successful women’s basketball coaches at any level across the nation at that time was an opportunity not to turn down.”
Mrs.Cooley played for the ICC Cougars from 1990-1992. During her time at Illinois Central College, her team won the 1992 NJCAA DIV 2 National Championship. This was Coach Ramsey’s first national title and it was even more special because the team was not expected to have a winning season, let alone win a national title. As a result of the team’s success, Mrs. Cooley received a lot of attention from Division I Schools and had 5 Division 1 offers to continue her basketball career. She was also chosen as a first-team All-American in 1992 by the Junior Collegiate Athletic Association (NJCAA).
After ICC, Mrs. Cooley chose to attend Eastern Illinois University on her second full athletic scholarship. She played for the EIU Panthers from 1992 to 1994 to stay close to her family. She graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and went on to the University of Wisconsin LaCrosse to complete her Master of Education and Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in School Psychology in 1996. When Mrs. Cooley was asked if it was hard to keep up in college she commented, “I played three sports in high school and was very involved with other extracurricular activities too so I was used to being really busy and knowing how to manage my time. As a college athlete, time management and mental toughness are really important.” Her advice for any student who is thinking about playing sports in college is this, “You have to be passionate about the game; you have to want to play and be okay with the role on your team. The commitment is significant” Mrs. Cooley also stated the best thing about playing college basketball was getting her college education and meeting lifelong friends. Without basketball, she is not sure she would have gone to college, developed an openness to new people, and found her joy in learning new things.