Deontae Cooper spending seventh season at San Jose State

Deontae Cooper has spent six injury-riddled seasons with the Washington Huskies and the team isn’t going to bring him back for a seventh. However, Cooper will get to play one final season on the West Coast, but this time at San Jose State.

When he came out of Citrus Hill High School in Perris, California in 2010, Cooper suffered knee injury, which cost him his freshman season. He suffered knee injuries the next two years, knocking him out of the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

He made his debut in 2013, in what was supposed to be his senior year, and rushed for 270 yards and three touchdowns. He has racked up 653 yards and four touchdowns in three seasons since making his debut and he will play his final year of eligibility with the Spartans.

I’m trying to escape this feel-good story,” Cooper told the Seattle Times on Monday. “It’s never going to leave me here.”

Despite wanting to leave the “feel-good story,” Deontae Cooper has been good to Washington and Washington has been good to him. He won Washington’s Guy Flaherty Most Inspirational Award in 2013 and was named a team captain in 2015.

“Coach Sark brought me into something special and I didn’t even know it,” he said. “I knew nothing about UW before I came here. But, man, he brought me into something special, and having these thoughts of, ‘OK, I need to leave to chase this dream,’ it’s like, do I really want to leave the people, the fans?

“But this is the right route for me. I had to do it. But I definitely didn’t want to.”

Cooper should have a chance to start for the Spartans as four-year starting running back Tyler Ervin will graduate and take his talents to the NFL.

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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports

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