CONTACT: Justin Hoyt (518) 629-7898, j.hoyt@hvcc.edu
FOR RELEASE: Immediate, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011
Eugene Cooper, former football standout at Hudson Valley Community College was recently named to the watch list for the prestigious Biletnikoff Award. He joins teammate Kamar Jorden, another former Hudson Valley athlete, who was named to the list prior to the start of the season. After playing for Hudson Valley for the school years 2007 and 2008, both went on to Bowling Green University where they play for the Falcons.
Cooper and Jorden are on the watch list which leads up to the final award given annually to the nation's top NCAA Division 1 wide receiver.
Through three games, Cooper leads the nation with six receiving touchdowns and is 15th in the country in receiving yards per game (107.7). He came into the 2011 season with 17 catches and 130 yards and no touchdowns in his Falcon career. In the first game of 2011, Cooper had four catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns versus Idaho. The following week, he had six catches for 134 yards and four touchdowns against Morgan State. This past week, he set a career-high with eight receptions for 79 yards, but did not score.
Cooper earned first-team All-Northeast as a kick returner at Hudson Valley. He compiled more than 500 return yards and two touchdowns on special teams and had 349 yards and 3 touchdowns as a sophomore.
During his first year at Bowling Green, Jorden played in and started all 12 games . He made First-Team All-MAC, leading with 96 receptions and chipping in with 1,109 receiving yards and four touchdowns. His record of 96 grabs for 1,109 yards are both third-best in school history, and he set a career-high 14 catches for 168 yards at Tulsa.
As team captain for his two years at Hudson Valley, Jorden had 60 catches for 938 yards and three touchdowns as a sophomore, earning first-team Northeast All-Conference. Both numbers are school records.