Kiaira Cooper is entering her third season with the Cal women’s basketball program as director of creative video after joining the team in August 2021. Prior to arriving at Cal, she had stints with the University of Kansas and University of Idaho.
Cooper is responsible for strategy and development of video content that showcases student-athletes, special events, player and coach features and Cal athletics that is used for social media, web and traditional media as well as the support of recruiting efforts and in-game entertainment.
At Kansas, she served as assistant communications director (2019-21) and was the primary media contact for women’s basketball, tennis and rowing. There she developed and executed content strategy focused on growing engagement of her team’s social media platforms, served as a creative director around content creation, produced written and visual media to promote student-athletes and teams and collaborated with various departments to help market her teams.
At Idaho, Cooper served as assistant media relations director (2018-19) where she was the primary contact for women’s basketball, women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s tennis. There she managed social media accounts and websites for her teams, pitched player and team features to external media and developed written materials such as media guides and record books and marketing materials. She also led a successful campaign to land a women’s basketball player a spot in the 2019 State Farm College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships on ESPN during the 2019 NCAA Men’s Final Four.
At the 2023 Women’s Final Four, Cooper worked with the NCAA’s social media team as a video producer where she filmed and edited content for the NCAAMarchMadnessWBB channels that resulted in record engagement across their platforms. She is a recipient of the NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women’s Grant and has participated in several conventions including the NCAA Emerging Leaders Seminar, Women Leaders Symposium and CoSIDA.
Cooper received her master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in sports administration from Belhaven University and her bachelor’s degree with a minor in sport management from Covenant College where she was also a member of the women’s basketball team.
