Ohio's D.J. Cooper In a Class by Himself

Imagine being the only person in the history of whatever it is you do to accomplish a certain feat. Pretty awesome, right?

Ohio Bobcats guard D.J. Cooper is about to be in a class all by himself, but you won’t hear it from him.

“He’s not a rah-rah guy,” Ohio coach Jim Christian said. “But he is the first guy over to somebody when a good play happens. That’s a sign of a good point guard.” So it’s no surprise you haven’t heard of him, he’s a humble kid who plays the game the right way–and he does all this in a 6-foot, 175 pound frame. Pretty remarkable. And despite leading the Bobcats to the Sweet Sixteen a season ago, the Ohio senior plays in relative obscurity in Athens, Ohio.

Two thousand points, 900 assists, 500 rebounds and 300 steals. That’s the career stat line Cooper is rapidly approaching and if/when he gets there, he’ll be the only one to get there.

With ten games left in the regular season, a trip to the MAC postseason tournament and a possible berth in the NCAA Tournament, he should have no problems.

He’s needs only 114 points, which he should get in roughly eight games if he keeps up with his 14.6 points per game average.

Just 45 assists shy of 900, reaching that milestone should be a walk in the park since he’s averaging over eight a game.

Already having eclipsed the 500 rebound plateau, he’s got his sights set on 600.

As for steals, well he’s quite the thief, having already amassed 300 for his career, good for 2.3 a game.

When looking at the approaching milestones, the one you wouldn’t think a 6-foot point guard would reach is the 500 rebounds but Cooper is steady on the boards, averaging 3.5 a game this year and 4.5 per contest for his career.

He might be a fringe NBA prospect but he has been bigger than life for the Ohio Bobcats for the past four years.