Lawrence North duo expected to make plays together at IU — but not from same position.

BLOOMINGTON – Twenty-three months ago, Indiana football fans will have envisioned — perhaps dreamed about — the idea of Omar Cooper and Donaven McCulley together at IU, bringing their electric, explosive connection from Lawrence North to Bloomington.

They weren’t expecting them to be sharing a meeting room though.

That’s where the erstwhile Wildcats are now, Cooper on campus for his freshman season and McCulley moved to wide receiver since the spring semester at his own request, according to, among others, him.

They are not necessarily the Hoosiers’ only hopes at receiver but, raw as they are, they are among them. As they work to position themselves at the heart of IU's offensive revival, their roles may have changed, but they’re doing it the way their coaches, their fans and indeed they themselves will have planned to all along — together.

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“We both ask each other questions, because we’re both still learning a lot,” Cooper said. “We’ll ask each other. If we don’t know, we’ll ask coach. There’s no leaning (only) on a certain person, but we still try to make each other better every day.”

Each is raw in his own way.

Cooper, self-described as “more athletic than anybody else” in high school, relied on that strength during a career he finished averaging more than 21.6 yards per catch. A two-time all-state selection, he rolled up 2,856 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns, a fair few of them deep shots and a fair few of those loosed from the hand of the talented quarterback a year older who describes Cooper as “like a little brother.”

Unlike several of his classmates, Cooper didn’t enroll early, meaning he’s only been on campus since June. But that explosiveness hasn’t left him, with IU coach Tom Allen recently singling him out for praise and Cooper flashing several times in recent practices.

"I tell you what," Allen said Tuesday, "Omar Cooper is gonna be really, really special. He's still young, and he's got to figure it all out, but you just see (his potential)."

Cooper himself has worked to marry the athleticism he knows he can rely on to the polish he's put on his game these last three months.

“Coming into college, everybody’s more athletic so I had to learn and listen to (wide receivers) coach (Adam) Henry, because he’s been through a lot and coached a lot of people,” Cooper said. “He’s really helped me a lot. And then the older guys, watching what they do and trying to do it myself on the side, and trying it against other people to see if it works, that helps me a lot. I’ve been getting a lot better, but I’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

Henry said after practice last week that Cooper had strung a handful of strong days together recently, prompting Henry to compliment the 6-1, 193-pound freshman on his progress.

“It was probably after like, five practices, I was like, ‘You’re doing a good job,’” Henry said. “And then that day, he didn’t practice so well, so I said, ‘I’m gonna stop telling you you’re doing a good job.’”

Cooper laughed and nodded when retold Henry’s story. But it was what his coach said next that spoke more directly to Cooper’s potential.

“He has tremendous upside and he’s a guy who listens,” Henry said. “He has a large upside, and I like his football IQ.”

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His old friend’s path ends in the same destination, but his journey is markedly different.

According to McCulley, it’s not been since eighth grade — when he “always played everything” as the biggest, most talented player on the field — that the sophomore from Indianapolis lined up at receiver.

At Lawrence North, he was a four-star prospect, an IndyStar Mr. Football finalist and the highest-rated high school quarterback signee in IU history. He was Marion County Player and Male Athlete of the Year, and finished his career with nearly 7,500 total yards and a 128.1 quarterback rating. As an IU freshman, he started four times and appeared in seven games during an injury plagued 2021 season for his position room.

Now, by choice, that’s not his position anymore.

“I’ve always wanted to play receiver,” McCulley said after practice last week. “That’s just always what I’ve seen myself as. In high school, I kind of had to play quarterback, so that’s just what I did.

“Coming to college and stuff, playing quarterback, it didn’t go so well the first year, but it is what it is. When I went to go talk to coach Allen about the decision, he just wanted to know why. I told him why, and he was just on board with it and everything.”

Like so much else during IU's soul-searching offseason, McCulley’s position switch stayed state’s secret until the summer, when he was pictured during a cookout at Allen’s house with the rest of his new position group.

Since McCulley’s move was publicly confirmed, Allen has repeatedly gushed about his potential at receiver. Across the course of fall camp, Indiana’s sixth-year head coach said he’s seen McCulley grow more comfortable in his new position.

Henry, who has coached players like Amari Cooper, Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry across his career, is more circumspect.

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It’s his job to constantly demand more of McCulley, to push him beyond his ever-expanding comfort zone. If McCulley is to realize the immense potential Allen sees in him, he can’t afford to become satisfied, which means his position coach can’t let him.

“I’m pleased where he’s at,” Henry said. “It’s all new for him, transitioning to receiver play. You learn you’re not just dropping back. You’re running, and you’re running. As a receiver, you have to run, and then you’ve gotta run some more. And then you run, and then you run some more. When you’re tired, you’ve gotta run. And when you think you’re tired, you’ve got to keep running. It’s one of those things you have to keep doing over and over, and train yourself for.

“He has a big body. He’s very athletic. He has good catching radius. You can put it up where he can go and get it. But it’s just little details he’s learning. He knows the conceptual thought process of routes and what to do. It’s the little things. You can’t always use your body because you’re bigger than everyone to get open.”

Time will tell how ready both Cooper and McCulley are to help Allen ensure this season does not spiral so desperately out of control as the last.

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They are part of a largely remade position group, with precious little returning production on the field. IU added Cam Camper from junior college. It took Emery Simmons and Andison Coby as transfers from North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively. D.J. Matthews is back from his ACL tear, and the Hoosiers return promising young receivers like Javon Swinton and Malachi Holt-Bennett.

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And then there are the Lawrence North alumni. They came to this place from different starting points. They possess great upside in different ways, and are as unproven at this level as so many of their position mates.

Together, they are trying to contribute to a group of pass catchers Allen needs to pick his offense up from the bottom of the Big Ten, and lead a revival in Bloomington.

“We’re all closer than I expected, just because everybody’s new,” Cooper said. “Because of the offense we run, we’re all gonna have a chance to eat.”

Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football: Omar Cooper, Donaven McCulley, LN grads join IU