First, I apologize that I'm adding to the tangentialness of this discussion that will, no doubt, be soon split off. However....................
The caliber of student that OSU accepts-- and that which OSU athletic teams are permitted to bring in-- have both risen since Cooper was here. That said, the average HS GPA and the average test scores of a football recruit is not at the same level as the general student population. Sure, there are football recruits for OSU (many more so than during the Cooper regime) with the academic credentials to get accepted at OSU even if they didn't play football, but there are many that would never get into OSU (the main branch, anyway) if they weren't athletes. There's nothing unique about that, as virtually every Division I school bends their standards to get athletes in (or depending on how you look at it, place greater emphasis on the extracurricular excellence of these students), but there are most certainly a good number of athletes at OSU who would never have a chance to get into OSU had they not been so good at sports.
Some stats:
--For the 2006 freshman class, there were over 19,000 applications for 6162 spots.
--The average ACT score was 26.2 and the average SAT was 1200.
--Almost 50% were in the top 10% of their graduating class, and 80% were in the top 25%.
It is getting more and more difficult for students to get into OSU. Although probably uncommon, it is entirely conceivable that a kid with a 4.2 HS GPA and 26 ACT wouldn't get accepted to OSU (main campus) if he or she had no extracurriculars and bombed his/her essay. Remember, the 26 ACT is average now at OSU (slightly below average, actually), so a student needs to do something else to stand out. Heck, the only reason OSU's ACT/SAT/% at top of graduating class numbers aren't higher is because they have the largest enrollment in the country.