There are two athletes playing professional basketball in Germany, and chances are you know nothing about either, or perhaps have never even heard of them.
But you might just know a little about their great-grandparents.
Booker and Jaley Coplin are currently playing for professional teams: Booker joined the Dusseldorf Giants in Germany’s “B” League for the 2021-22 season and was the team’s leading scorer before being promoted to the “A” League for the 22-23 season. He joined the Frankfurt Skyliners for the 23-24 season and is currently the team’s leading scorer. Jaley, meanwhile, took part in a tryout for the Herne Women’s Team in Herne, Germany, while visiting her brother last Christmas. After signing a contract during the holidays, she played her first game as a pro, scoring 21 points.
So, what does that have to do with Tracy?
The two pro athletes are the great-grandkids of former Scrappers, the late Bill and Marian Johnson and the late Jacque (Hess) Coplin (THS Class of ’62). Bill, who died in 2011, is a 1940 graduate of Tracy High School, and Marian, who died three years after Bill, graduated in 1942. The couple was inducted into the Tracy Area Public Schools Wall of Fame in 2007.
See more in this week’s paper!