‘Jeopardy’ host Alex Trebek and Leonard Cooper
OK EUR commenter Taurusingr, this one’s especially for you. 
*If you don’t know who Leonard Cooper is, read on ’cause this young brother is someone you need to know about.
You see, the cool, calm, collected (and a little cocky) Mr. Cooper – a Little Rock, Arkansas high school student – just won $75,000 on “Jeopardy Teen Tournament.”
Needless to say, that’s quite a feat for anybody, not to mention a 17-year-old with an Afro. Yes, it’s a well-worn cliche, but you really can’t tell a book by its cover. And you know what we’re talking about.
One more thing. As the Huffington Post pointed out, since the teen tournament set-up includes lump sum awards for each contestant, Leonard Cooper didn’t have to bet anything at the end to win the most money. On the other hand, keep in mind that things could have gone a lot differently. We like how a commenter on Uproxx named dax montana explained the situation.
This is his direct quote [sic]:
We NEED to talk about this though. Leonard started final jeopardy with $37,000. He had $3,000 from the Previous evening. Therefor,e wagering nothing, the most he could accumulate was obvi $40k. Nilai entered final jeopardy with $14,400. He ended the rpevious night wiht $19K. IF NILAI HAD WAGERED IT ALL (or even a majority) AND GOTTEN IT RIGHT, HE WOULD HAVE WON AND LEONARD WOULD HAVE LOOKED LIKE A HUGE DINGUS! But all’s well that end’s well I guess. Playon Playa.
Read the full story at Arkansas Online.
Watch how it went down:
Yes Yes Yes I love it! I’m sooo proud of you Leonard, CONGRATULATIONS!!
I saw this and loved it. Leonard has personality for days, from the hair to the smile to the quiet confidence, lol. He is a star. Yes, THIS is the image of the Black male we like the media to see.
This is a reflection of good parenting.
This young man blew me away I watch jeopardy all the time and was really excited to see this young man.I was jumping up and down like it was my son who won!!!I know his parents are beaming.This is a smart young man kudos to him. I love his swagger LOL!!!! CONGRATS to him
Congratulationss to this bright young man!!
The Indian kid had $14K . The white kid had $18K and bet $17.5K. Leonard had $37K. This is simple math, if the white kid bet it all and was correct, he still would still be less than Leonard and that is why he bet $0.
Congrats to Mr. Cooper! I did not watch his entire stint on jeopardy but the times I did catch him, I was impressed on his intellect. Very smart kid. Agree with TGen that we need to see more young black men like Leonard taking the spotlight.
Way to go Leonard! I love to see our Black youth in this light.
The cameras actually panned to his mom at the end. She was crying and smiling and Leonard looked at her and started smiling back. It was SUCH a wonderful moment! You’re right, she had to have been too proud.
He is so cute. Reminds me of the way Michael Jackson looked when he was around that age. Love that he keeps his fro large!
THAT KID HAS BALLS OF STEEL TO BET IT ALL LIKE THAT! Props to
him. I’m happy for him and hope he keeps up the good work in the books
and whatever else it that he is doing.
Young Leonard was unflappable. I knew there was a bunch of brains under the cloud he wears so proudly…wish mine still grew like that. I like how he chilled in the cut but when he started answering, he’d get on a roll. I missed the last show but I was not surprised at all that he pulled it off. Way to go young bro!
How do you chill in the cut on Jeopardy?
Awesome! Loving his fro big time…Jeopardy is hard as hell so you have to be a rocket scientist to answer some of those questions. Keep up the good work. You’ve made us proud! I was really surprised all the comments on NY Daily were all positive. This just reassures us our black youth can do and be anything their heart desires…You know he’ll probably get a full ride to some great college. That’s what’s up!!!
This young man is awesome! His afro gave me LIFE!! I pray Leonard Cooper much success to him and his family.
Smart young man, congrats to you Leonard!!!!