She’s a McD’s All American, a Louisville commit - and the first to have her jersey retired
Add another bullet point to Olivia Cochran’s list of accolades during her time at Carver.
Cochran, ranked the No. 18 girls basketball prospect in the country by ESPN, was was selected to play in the McDonald’s All American game in January. Wednesday, she received her jersey for the game that will be held April 1 at Toyota Center in Houston for the first time.
And a bonus: Carver girls head coach Anson Hundley announced Wednesday morning that Cochran’s No. 44 jersey will be retired at the conclusion of the season. It will be the first-ever Carver basketball jersey — boys or girls — to be retired.
“It’s a big accomplishment,” Cochran said Wednesday. “I’m proud of myself. Proud of how hard I’ve been working to get to where I’m going. ... Where I come from, nobody’s ever done this, so it’s just a way to put on for my family and the city.”
Cochran is the first McDonald’s All-American from Columbus, according to the game’s alumni list.
Cochran, the Ledger-Enquirer’s All-Bi-City Player of the Year in 2019, announced her commitment to Louisville last July. At the time, the 6-1 forward was ranked No. 12 in the Class of 2020 by Prospect Nation. Her ESPN scouting report describes her as a “power-body interior performer,” who competes on both offense and defense.
Cochran mainly plays center for the Tigers, though Hundley anticipates she’ll play more of a stretch four role (a power forward who can generate offense from further away from the basket) in college.
Olivia Cochran’s stats
Last year, as a junior center, Cochran averaged 27 points, 16 rebounds and eight blocks per game. She scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the Georgia High School Association class 4A girls state final, a 56-44 victory over Spalding to cap an undefeated (32-0) season for the Tigers. She was named to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s first-team 4A All-State team in 2018 and 2019.
In April 2019, Cochran was named most valuable player at USA Basketball Women’s 3x3 U18 National Championship tournament at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Last June, Cochran led Team USA in scoring (41 points in seven games) as it won the FIBA 3x3 U18 Women’s World Cup, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Sports run deep in Cochran’s family. Her mother, Tara Williams, was a second-team All-SEC guard as a senior at Auburn in 1997 and played two seasons in the WNBA (1997 for Phoenix and 2000 for Portland). Her father, Antonio Cochran, was a defensive lineman at Georgia and was picked by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL draft. He played five seasons for Seattle and one season for the Arizona Cardinals.
“She’s earned everything she’s got,” Hundley said. “She’s a great basketball player, but she’s also a great person. Those kinds of people, they deserve good stuff. So I’m proud of her and where she’s going to, and what she’s become. And I look to keep watching her play later on.”
