As a freshman on a team of veterans, Ohio point guard D.J. Cooper led the squad in minutes played and was second in points.
Now a junior and the only remaining starter from that Mid-American Conference championship team, Cooper leads a much younger group into conference play, which begins Saturday against Bowling Green (6-7) on the road.
With losses in its previous four trips to Bowling Green, nobody on the roster has beaten the Falcons on the road.
Cooper offered some advice for his younger teammates heading into conference play.
“Just be ready to push through harder,” he said. “They exploit your weaknesses, and it’s more physical. Don’t let the crowd get to you on the road.”
Cooper has recorded 3,003 career minutes with the Bobcats. The player with the next highest total is junior Ivo Baltic, with 1,676 career minutes.
Coach John Groce said Cooper’s experience is one thing that has allowed him to become a leader on the team.
“His experience is a great teacher,” Groce said. “He does a good job, especially non-verbally, but it’s not a job for one person.”
Along with Cooper, the team has identified three others as the leaders of the team: juniors Walter Offutt and David McKinley and sophomore Nick Kellogg.
Without any true seniors on the team, the role of the juniors has been escalated, Cooper said.
“In most cases it probably would be tough (without seniors), but not in this case since me, Ivo, Walt and (Reggie Keely) have been playing since freshman year,” he said. “We kind of feel like we’re seniors now, and next year, we’ll be super seniors.”
Kellogg said he has accepted his role as one of the leaders but also said leadership can come from other players as well.
“Any given day, anybody can lead,” he said. “It just takes a guy working hard and doing the right things on and off the court and being someone the rest of the team can look up to. If my teammates are willing to put me there, then I’m willing to lead.”
As excited as Bowling Green fans were with the opening of their new arena, the Stroh Center, the Bobcats might be just as excited about the new building coming off their recent struggles in Anderson Arena, where the Falcons used to play.
“It was hard playing there,” Cooper said. “We were 0-2 there coming into this season, so we’re looking forward to getting our first win.”
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