Correct. McCoy was always the better player but had a bad injury which led to Coop getting the spotlight.
McCoy broke his ankle during his senior year at Bishop McDevitt, not during his year at Milford. Injury shouldn't have played a role a whole year later, but couldn't really tell you.
2006 - Coming out of high school Lesean McCoy was the #5 rated RB and a 5 star. Graig Cooper coming out of high school was the #75th rated RB and a 3 star.
Halfway thru the season McCoy broke his ankle...
a very serious ankle injury that was career threatening. He also did not qualify. They both went to prep. McCoy was
still recovering from this serious injury in prep school...during that time the rankings reflected Coop as higher than McCoy. Shady was very limited in his carries that season and he
ran tentatively.
2007 rankings had Coop as the #6 rated RB and a 5 star. They had Shady as the #7 rated RB and a 5 star.
These were Scout rankings.
Rivals was similar.
2006 McCoy - 4 star - #6 RB Coop - 3 star #27 RB
2007 McCoy - 4 star - #2 prep RB Coop - 5 star #1 prep RB
What's your source on the points I bolded?
It was well known to all who followed recruiting back then. I live in PA, only a few hours from where McCoy went to high school, so it was very well known around here. There was some concern that he might not return to 100% and not be able to cut and juke they way he did in HS. As we see in the NFL, that is not the case.
The injury did play a huge role in him taking a back seat to Cooper, but there was more than just that. McCoy had a lot of growing up to do, which he did, but it took him a semester. Here's an small portion of an article on Milford:
http://pittsburgh.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=876282
Chaplick offers similar praise for McCoy and Cooper.
McCoy's rise to stardom at Pittsburgh is particularly impressive because he came to Milford overweight and on crutches as he recovered from an ankle injury. Cooper actually rushed for more than twice as many yards as McCoy at Milford two years ago, though McCoy has developed into the more productive college player.
" '
Coop' came in, and he was healthy, ready to go and hungry," Chaplick said. "He was totally focused ? one of the most focused players I've ever had. He did everything academically and football-wise to get to Miami as fast as he could.
"LeSean had to play catch-up because he was so far behind because of his injury. After about one semester, he bought into everything and realized what he had to do. Most guys could have gone either way. He chose the right path, became a man, went to work and got it done."
