LOS ANGELES – First to 700 losses, three bowl wins, zero playoff wins, and half empty stadiums — all the characteristics of Indiana Football before Curt Cignetti showed up. The 2023 roster included 40 players from Indiana. Now, there are 31 who have had much different experiences as Indiana Hoosier football players.
“Every week, somebody that grew up with me texts me, ‘It’s crazy how we was just in high school together and now you a big celebrity on TV,’” Omar Cooper Jr. said. “I don’t count myself as a celebrity but I’m just grateful God has put me in this position.”
The senior wideout is an Indianapolis native and graduate of Lawrence North High School in the city. He grew up around Indiana football and committed back in 2022 to Tom Allen’s program.
He stayed on through the transition to Cignetti’s takeover to see the rise of the program, which has brought them to being the top seed in this year’s College Football Playoff and a date with the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl on Thursday.
“It means everything, really, just because I grew up in Indiana so being able to be a part of this is just a blessing itself,” Cooper Jr. said.
It paid off for Cooper Jr., who made Second-Team All Big Ten Offense at the receiver position, tied seventh nationally in touchdown receptions this season (11), and currently No. 5 in IU career receiving TDs (19).
Not to mention, he boasts the No. 1 play in ESPN’s top 10 plays of 2025.
“Being here and being at this is something you always dream about as a kid,” Cooper Jr. said.
This Indiana team is both chasing dreams and inspiring them. Freshman running back Khobie Martin is a Fishers native, graduating from Fishers High School. He went back to practice over the summer thanks to an invite from his old head coach, Curt Funk.
His favorite memory was “to be able to mentor those kids and give them some advice to things I wish I would have learned or heard when I was at their age,” Martin said Tuesday morning.
Martin has been having kids recognize him, both in Bloomington and in his community in Fishers. One wouldn’t expect that from a third-string running back, but with 69 carries for 453 yards and six touchdowns on the year, there could be a lot more recognition for Martin in the future.
He’s already using the platform from Indiana’s rise and his own performances.
“I think planting those seeds into their head… it’s something I’m gonna start thinking about more,” Martin said. “I’m really gonna start trying more. That’s what I really want to do for the kids.”
Another Indiana native, Adedamola Ajani, is a freshman offensive lineman from Indianapolis and went to Speedway High School.
He grew up always seeing Indiana Football, but described the current situation as “crazy.”
The most notable thing for him was the community outreach.
“When I go back home, everybody’s around me trying to talk to me,” Ajani said Tuesday morning. “I mean it feels great, it feels really awesome.”
“Really awesome” is a simple yet effective way to put the rise of Indiana and how it relays to the local communities. The Hoosiers have another opportunity to add to the storied rise on New Years Day, at 4 p.m. Eastern in the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal versus No. 9 Alabama on ESPN.
