During his senior season in high school, Cooper caught 81 passes for 1,328 yards and had 15 touchdowns while the team went 10–2.

[1] Josh Cooper played college football at Oklahoma State University.

In 2008 as a freshman, Cooper had 2 catches for 10 ten yards, and 0 touchdowns.

[1] In 2010 as a junior, Cooper had 68 catches, 736 receiving yards, and five touchdowns ranking second behind eventual first round draft choice Justin Blackmon.

[3] He thought he'd have a good chance to stay with Cleveland because he was a favorite target of QB Brandon Weeden, having built a chemistry from when they played together as part of Oklahoma State Cowboys football.