With Oklahoma State football career cut short, Lamont Bishop shines at Pro Day
STILLWATER — If it had been up to him, Lamont Bishop would have been watching Oklahoma State Pro Day on Wednesday, not participating in it.
Yet there he was, running the 40-yard dash, bench pressing 225 pounds and running linebacker drills for scouts from virtually every NFL team inside the Sherman Smith Training Center.
Measuring 6-foot-2 ⅜ and 236 pounds, Bishop has the size to be an NFL linebacker. His 40-yard dash time in the high 4.5-second range is good enough, too.
He just wanted another season at OSU, knowing he’d have a chance to be a starter and show his productivity on the field rather than in the Pro Day setting.
But Bishop learned less than three months ago that he wouldn’t receive an additional year of eligibility, like athletes who were on college teams during the COVID-impacted 2020 season.
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After graduating high school in the spring of 2018, Bishop played two seasons at Iowa Central Community College, then transferred to OSU in January 2020. He redshirted that fall and played in a backup role in the 2021-22 seasons.
Midway through last fall, Bishop learned he wasn’t likely to be granted an additional year. Bishop said he was told that because he had sat out the 2020 season with a torn ACL, he was not eligible for the extra year.
Bishop tried to state his case to the NCAA.
“I was just trying to find a way to get that year back,” Bishop said after Pro Day activities. “I couldn’t, but it’s all in God’s plan, so I wasn’t really stressing on it.”
In January, shortly after OSU’s bowl game — where Bishop had one of his better performances as a Cowboy with nine tackles, including two for loss — he got the final answer, telling him his college career was over.
“That’s when I knew there was zero chance and I had to start preparing for Pro Day,” he said. “At first, it was a little emotional, because I wanted to come back and have a dominant last year. But God had another plan for me.”
While most outgoing college players have months to arrange their plans for the critical months between the end of the season and Pro Day, Bishop had to scramble. He lined up a spot at a facility in Knoxville, Tennessee, training to prepare for Wednesday.
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“It was pretty tough, but my mom and family helped me get through it,” he said. “Now I’m on this journey, and I’m happy with it.”
Given the extra year to be on the field in a more significant role, Bishop would’ve had a stronger résumé to present to NFL types.
“He’s made the best of his opportunities here at Oklahoma State,” Brock Martin said. “Every time he’s come in, it seems like he makes a play every time.”
While players like Martin, Jason Taylor II, Tyler Lacy and Brendon Evers have more on-field tape to show scouts, Bishop must lean heavily on his Pro Day performance.
“That’s all he can do, and he did that the best way he can,” Taylor said. “He did what he was supposed to do. He was crisp in his drills. He’s a bigger guy, can lift, can run, can jump. And I’m happy for him. Maybe he turned some heads.”
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: NFL Draft 2023: Lamont Bishop makes his case at OSU football Pro Day
