Cooper is fresh off three-straight 1,000-yard seasons at Kent State and Ball State.
One of the MAC’s premier offensive players of this decade appears to be on the move.
On Friday, Ball State running back Marquez Cooper announced his entry into the portal on his Twitter account:
Official ! pic.twitter.com/hGnn7Vkic0
— Marquez Cooper (@quez__15) February 23, 2024
Cooper spent the 2023 season as Ball State’s starting running back. Prior to his time in Muncie, he manned the backfield at Kent State for three seasons. Operating in two different MAC offenses, Cooper saw success wherever he played in the conference. The running back has qualified for the All-MAC team in three consecutive years, earning Second Team honors in 2023 and 2021 and first team honors in 2022 with Kent State. Cooper is one of two players in the entire conference to crack the top two All-MAC teams each year from 2021 to 2023, sharing that designation with Northern Illinois offensive tackle Nolan Potter.
Cooper launched his collegiate career in the 2020 pandemic-adjusted season and immediately thrived as Kent State’s leading rusher. He posted 282 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns in four games, propelling the Golden Flashes to the No. 1 scoring offense in the country. With a larger sample size in 2021, he sustained that success, attaining 1,205 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns for a Kent State rushing attack which finished third nationally in yards per game. Yet, Cooper found a way to increase those numbers in his third year with the Golden Flashes in 2022, breaking out for 1,326 yards and 13 touchdowns to crack the nation’s top 20 rushers. It was in 2022 where he set his career-high, picking up 240 rushing yards in an October win over Ohio.
Kent State head coach Sean Lewis stepped down from his role following the 2022 season, which caused a mass exodus of transfers from the program. Cooper was included in that bunch, but he didn’t have to travel far for his new destination. He relocated to Ball State and posted 1,043 rushing yards and four touchdowns along with career-high receiving numbers of 18 receptions and 163 yards. In his one year in Muncie, Cooper exceeded 130 rushing yards in four games — and he’s topped that threshold nine times in his past two seasons.
After four successful years in the MAC, Cooper should have plenty of suitors looking for his services — whether it’s in the conference or beyond. The three-time 1,000-yard rusher retains one year of eligibility, due to starting his college career during the 2020 COVID season. Unless he withdraws from the portal or returns to Kent State, the Gaithersburg, MD native will play for third different school in three years.