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Cooper DeJean grew up in **Odebolt, Iowa**, a small farming town of about 920 people.

Sports were in his blood. Raised by two former college athletes—his father, Jason, played basketball at Huron University in South Dakota, while his mother, Katie, played softball—DeJean grew up alongside two younger brothers who were also multi-sport athletes.

He grew up where high school stadiums were carved out of cornfields. In this wide-open landscape, farm animals outnumber people by a wide margin—the county that includes Odebolt is home to about 46,000 cattle, more than four times the human population of just 9,800, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For a kid from a town like this, dreaming of playing at a major D1 program felt almost impossible. Sure, you might hope for it, but deep down, reality told you otherwise. Yet, DeJean’s success in high school proved otherwise.

He attended **OA-BCIG**, a consolidated school in **Ida Grove, Iowa**,

He was a do-it-all athlete, mainly playing *quarterback* and **defensive back**, but he lined up wherever he was needed. That’s just how it worked in small-town football—if you were good, the team found ways to use you. **Larry Allen**, OABCIG’s head football coach, recalled that DeJean didn’t start as a freshman but saw some game time.

By his sophomore year, he was a **first-team all-state receiver**, racking up over 1,000 yards before shifting to quarterback for his junior and senior seasons. He even handled punting duties when needed.

"Where we needed him, he was willing to give it a shot," Allen said.

DeJean shattered school records, and as a senior, he threw for **3,447 yards and 35 touchdowns**, while rushing for **1,235 yards and 24 touchdowns**. He was named the **2021 All-American Bowl Adidas Player of the Year**.

But his most legendary moment came in the *2020 Iowa state championship game vs Van Meter.* Within two minutes, he blocked an extra point, scored the game-tying touchdown on a four-yard run, and, after the opposing team fumble on the ensuing kickoff, he punched in the go-ahead touchdown on a 19-yard run. The game was so big that local movie theaters and businesses across the five small towns were broadcasting the game—football was everything to this community.

Yet, despite being so dominant in football, it was just another season for DeJean. His first love was *basketball**, and he spent summers traveling the country playing AAU. He also starred in **baseball* and *track**—his **1,832 career points* and *218 steals* placed him among the all-time leaders in Iowa high school basketball history. On the track, he ran the fastest *100-meter time* in the state as a senior and recorded the *sixth-best long jump* in state history at the time of his graduation.