I think another win puts him smack in the top spot. A 144 pound freshman just a few years ago he has put OHIO on his back. Love this interview he pays homage and says hey its not an upset we have a really good team!
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/54476/its-business-as-usual-for-ohio-cooper

Definitely in the discussion but there are a few guys who can make a case. Let's not forget Gary Trent for one and I'm always going to stand up for Frankie Baumholtz and Jerry Jackson - its my age, you see. 

Speaking of quotes, how about DJ's shout out to the MAC East cohorts: (yahoo)

Then again, Cooper pointed out this wasn’t the first time a school from Ohio’s division has done this to a major-conference program.

“We feel the MAC East is really very strong,” Cooper said. “The West isn’t as strong, but the East has had some pretty good wins this year with Akron beating Mississippi State and Kent beating West Virginia. And this one tonight.”

Pretty cool operator to have just come off a big win in an interview and be able to recite facts about the guys you have to battle two or three times per season.

LOL..Burke wouldve been on the court with Cooper had he chose Ohio..don't kid yourself. They are 2 of the top guards in the country hands down and lucky for us Cooper had the upper hand tonite.

Cooper is great, but let me know when he wins three MAC Player of the Year awards in a row.

While he may have made an unofficial visit here, I assure you Trey Burke never seriously considered coming to Ohio, and thus never  "chose Michigan over Ohio." 

Best player ever?  Trent.  'nuff said. 

To me, one of the biggest determinants of "best player" is wins and losses. While Trent was great, he only won 1 MAC Championship and 0 NCAA Tournament games. By the time Cooper is done, he may very well have 3 MAC Titles to his name - that is simply unreal.

OCF, the younger guys on this board tend to overlook the guys from earlier eras and with them, the 90s and later are overrepresented on the lists of best Ohio players.

But wouldn't you say that your list might overrepresent the 60s and 70s a little?

You are correct. Hopefully, DJ gets his degree from OHIO to make sure this happens sooner than later.

Wins and loses will tell you the best team. You can have greatest player ever without a good team around him the wins will not come. I'm all for DJ being one of best but not the best ever  based on wins. I have to say best i have seen has to be Trent.

Jeff: I think John Deveraux, Dave Jamerson, Snoop Graham and Brandon Hunter might agree with you.

As for whether DJ is the best player ever at Ohio it's hard to prove that claim but he is definitely in the discussion.  One thing is for certain, when he leaves the school he will leave it with the most postseason wins ever by a Bobcat (tied with Reggie Keely and Ivo Baltic).   Even if you want to throw out the CIT he is at worst tied with the 1964 team.

I could have easily included Jamerson; he was my "last man out" and would have made my "top 11."  Now, IF Ohio wins two more NCAA games, I'd have to say this year's starting five would be right up there with Ohio's "Fab Five of '64" -- Jerry Jackson, Charlie Gill, Sr., Paul Storey, Mike Halley and Don Hilt.  Call me a fossil (my kids do), but until proven otherwise on the court, this is Ohio's best team ever. I truly hope we can take care of business tonight and then pull the BIG upset next week to make it into the Elite 8. That's what the '64 team did.  An interesting note about the '64 team's victory over UK is that we were really the more talented team and probably would have won that game eight out of ten times.  It wasn't a fluke.  The reason being is that we were an integrated squad and UK was "lily white."  Our forwards, both African Americans, simply dominated UK in all aspects of the game.  I believe that the Athletic Department still has film of this game.  I hope they digitized it.  It ought to be available for folks to see online.  This also brings to mind something else that's been going through my head recently.  I'm seeing some similarities between this team and some of Snyder's better teams.  The big ones are the emphasis on defense and the degree of team play.  There's also an intangible that I can't actually put into words, but there's a similarity in philosophy and approach to the game, except JG is much more animated than Snyder.