Richard Montgomery’s Tavares "Boogie" Vaughn-Cooper Joins 1,000-Point Club, Eyes All-Time Scoring Record

The junior point guard is making history at Richard Montgomery High School while earning Division I offers and mentoring from basketball legends.

Tavares "Boogie" Vaughn-Cooper hold a plaque commemorating his 1,000th career high school point following a recent Richard Montgomery boys basketball game. / Brandy Simms

Richard Montgomery High School junior point guard Tavares “Boogie” Vaughn-Cooper recently reached a career milestone, scoring the 1,000th point of his high school career.

Vaughn-Cooper, the youngest player in Richard Montgomery history to achieve the feat, has already received Division I scholarship offers from the College of Charleston and Eastern Kentucky University.

“He’s taken the lead on offense,” Richard Montgomery head coach David Breslaw said. “He shoots a pretty high percentage from two, and his three-point shooting has improved significantly from the beginning of the year.”

Vaughn-Cooper and Blake High School sophomore Baba Oladotun are Montgomery County’s top two leading scorers. Their friendship dates back to elementary school, when they played together on an AAU team coached by Oladotun’s father, Ibrahim.

“That’s my guy,” Oladotun said. “I’ve known him since first grade.”

Oladotun, the nation’s top-ranked high school sophomore, described Vaughn-Cooper as an unselfish player, a great scorer, and a strong defender.

“He’s in the running for Player of the Year in the county,” Oladotun said. “I think by far he’s one of the best players in the county.”

Although Vaughn-Cooper has never beaten Oladotun in a high school game, he erupted for 30 points in Richard Montgomery’s 63-59 loss to Blake on Tuesday night.

A Rising Star at Richard Montgomery

The 5-foot-10 junior is making waves this season, leading Montgomery County’s oldest public school with averages of 24 points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals per game.

Richard Montgomery has a rich basketball history. In the 1960s, Billy Gordon and Willie Allen helped lead the Rockets to a Maryland state championship.

• Gordon was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics in 1974 after a standout career at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2004.
• Allen, a sophomore when Richard Montgomery won the 1966 Maryland state title, became the first African American to play men’s basketball at the University of Miami.
• Dante Mayo, who graduated last year, is now on the roster at North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Vaughn-Cooper is following in the footsteps of his father, Tavares Cooper, a 2017 Richard Montgomery Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, and Anthony “Gumby” Williams. Both played college basketball at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina and are members of the Lincoln Park Athletic Hall of Fame.

Training With Legends

Vaughn-Cooper credits Dele Ojo, another Lincoln Park product, as a major influence on his ball-handling skills.

“Ojo has really helped me a lot, especially with handles,” Vaughn-Cooper said. “He’s a great ball-handler. He helped me with my skills and understanding the game better.”

Last year, Vaughn-Cooper trained with the United States All-Stars ahead of the Capital Classic High School All-Star Game, led by head coach Dennis Scott. Scott, a Maryland native, starred at Georgia Tech before becoming the No. 4 overall pick in the 1990 NBA Draft by the Orlando Magic.

“It was a great experience for me,” Vaughn-Cooper said. “Getting to work out with older guys who are going to play at the level I want to reach was huge.”

During workouts with the U.S. All-Stars prior to last year's Capital Classic, Tavares "Boogie" Vaughn-Cooper (left) got to workout with Coach Dennis Scott, a former Georgia Tech and NBA star, as well as top college players. Also pictured (right) is Friendship Tech star Travis Suggs. Vaughn-Cooper and Suggs are the only underclassmen in Capital Classic history invited to practice with the U.S. All-Stars. / Tavares Cooper

During the camp, Vaughn-Cooper ran drills and learned from college standouts like Georgetown’s Thomas Sorber and Caleb Williams. He also received advice from Scott.

“He just told me what I need to do to make it to the next level and how much I need to work,” Vaughn-Cooper said.

With a 3.4 GPA, Vaughn-Cooper is excelling both on the court and in the classroom. As he continues to break records and earn college offers, the rising star remains focused on proving he belongs among the best in Montgomery County—and beyond.