A former NCAA Division I baseball player, Nelson Cooper IV enters his sixth season as a volunteer coach with the California (PA) baseball program in 2025.
Cooper played three seasons at North Carolina Central in Durham, North Carolina, from 2013-15. The Eagles qualified for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Tournament in each of his initial two years with the program. Cooper was a recipient of MEAC All-Academic honors during each of his seasons with the program.
A native of Seattle, Washington, Cooper completed a finance and accounting internship with USA Baseball in Durham during the fall of 2015. He is the co-founder and executive director of the Pittsburgh Hardball Academy, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit youth advocacy organization that strives to enrich the lives of youth in the Greater Pittsburgh area via the game of baseball. The Academy has helped place over 40 student-athletes with collegiate baseball programs since its inception in 2020. The Academy boasted its first player chosen in the MLB Draft in 2023 with the selection of Derrick Tarpley, Jr. by the Oakland Athletics.
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In the private sector, Cooper started his professional career at PNC Financial Services as an analyst in 2016. He currently serves as a Vice President, Relationship Manager at PNC within the Corporate & Institutional Banking (C&IB) line of business, working with companies between $50 million and $1 billion in annual revenue.
Cooper has been honored for his work in the Pittsburgh community by several organizations, including Pittsburgh Business Times 30 Under 30, Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Act, Iota Phi Foundation of Pittsburgh, Who’s Next Pittsburgh: Community Leaders and Activists, Pennsylvania Statewide Afterschool/Youth Development Network, Junior Achievement and Get Involved!.
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He graduated Summa Cum Laude from North Carolina Central with a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in finance in 2015.
