Bend High football coach Kevin Cooper and the rest of the football staff are eagerly waiting to hear one name in this year’s NFL draft: Luke Musgrave.
“I think we all have illusions of wanting to be in the NFL, but as his size and he maintained great athletic ability as he kept on growing,” said Bend High School head football coach Kevin Cooper. “I think those passions and thoughts crept into his head, and rightly so. He’s going to be day one, day two draft.”
Musgrave was not selected in the first round Thursday night. Among the seeemingly endless number of mock drafts by football experts, he is expected to go Friday in the second or third round.
Coach Cooper was an assistant coach during Musgrave’s time at Bend High.
“He’ll be one of three NFL football players that have graduated from Bend High, and to make it that special,” he said.
RELATED: Queen of the mound: Lava Bear Addisen Fisher’s journey to top prospect
RELATED: Wheeler County Rattlers: 3 tiny Oregon towns for one 6-man HS football team
Musgrave, a 2019 Bend graduate, is looking to follow the steps of former Lava Bear football athletes Ryan Longwell and Rick Gervais, who both played in the Super Bowl.
Coach Cooper says Musgrave entered high school athletic but small, but as he started to grow, his dreams got bigger.
“Going into his senior year, he had grown and had a great weight room and a great lacrosse season in the spring that several coaches felt that he could play tight end and obviously as it looked back,” Cooper said.
Musgrave signed with the Oregon State Beavers and had a breakout season his junior year.
“Watching them have touchdown catches in the in the Oregon game,” Cooper said. “Just having them see success is a great deal of pride in having the announcer say he’s from Bend, Oregon, and Bend High School’s pretty special.”
Cooper says Musgrave visited Bend High just weeks after his impressive combine performance, giving back to the program and donating old gear.
“That kid is going to sign a pretty unbelievable contract, but he’s always going to be Lucas Musgrave was great for us, and he’s always going to be just a quiet, down-to-earth kid and hope to get to fish or golfer or hunt with them someday will be a lot of fun.”
