It has been an adventure of a career thus far for Michigan State basketball's Carson Cooper.
The 6-foot-11 center has had highs and lows during his three-year career to this point. The Jackson, Mich., native, who was once a teammate with Emoni Bates, before finishing his prep career at IMG Academy, has had a long and winding road.
Now a junior, a lot is expected of a player who has the size and body to be a strong big in the conference famous for the strength of the post.
Sure, at times he's looked overmatched, and sometimes he can be frustrating, especially when he's not finishing around the rim. Or, who can forget, when he gets called for fouls at a high rate?
Despite the criticism, Cooper is giving everything he has for Tom Izzo and the Spartans. Call him crazy for sticking with the big guy, but Cooper continues to showcase why he's getting minutes.
The last few games have been good for Cooper. He's in the midst of a solid stretch as he's scored four or more points in each of the last four games. His rebounding has been huge as well, as he's recorded five or more rebounds in that same stretch.
His performances at Northwestern and then the two home games against Penn State and Illinois were huge as well.
Sure, he doesn't stuff the stat book, but the important part is he goes and does the dirty work. He's playing with confidence, and you can tell how important he can be down the stretch.
Cooper's eight rebounds against the best rebounding team in the Big Ten (Illinois) summed up how important he has been.
Don't get me wrong, I've been critical of Cooper at times but lost in that is how important he is. Everyone on this team is important. They wouldn't be 16-2 and 7-0 in the Big Ten without everyone buying in.
For a fellow Jackson County native, I'm proud to see Cooper giving Michigan State everything he's got.