Two hundred fifty middle schoolers lined up, each chasing the same dream: earn that scholarship.
They ran 40-yard dashes, leapt into broad jumps and sprinted routes, all under the eyes of college coaches scanning for the next breakout star.
Among them was a quiet leader, a man of few words.
Launching himself past the competition, with a blistering 4.5 in the 40 yard dash and completing one of the longest jumps at the camp, his measurables mirrored those of NFL receivers.
Back home, the phone rang.
‘Mom, you’re never going to believe it, I just got the offer from Texas Tech.’
This is how Kason Cowan, before he entered his freshman year, earned his first D1 scholarship at Texas Tech University for a receiver position.
“I was just overwhelmed with everything,” Cowan said. “After the combine, the head coach told me to meet him in his office and I went [in] and he gave me a scholarship.
It was great.”
Only about 3% of high school football players receive recruitment offers to play at the Division I level, according to the NCAA’s 2024 statistics.
Furthermore, in 2024, out of more than 1 million high school football athletes, only about 77,000 received offers the NCAA, and just 2% of all high school athletes overall received an offer.
Those odds make Cowan’s case stand out, as he received a verbal offer before entering his freshman year, long before most athletes even appear on recruiters’ radars.
Even though Cowan’s offer is technically a verbal commitment, it signals that Texas Tech sees the potential of a future star in him.
From a young age, Cowan had built a love for football, something Audrea Cowan, Cowan’s mom, had been a witness of.
“From a very early age, we realized that Kason had something special when he stepped onto the football field,” Audrea Cowan said. “He has a very unique gift in speed and football IQ, and that started from the moment he started watching [games] with his dad and uncle.”
Ever since he was six, Cowan has been put into programs, extra training and different camps. One of these camp programs was the Dragon Elite Academy that he was involved in during fifth and sixth grade. The Dragon Elite Academy (DEA) is a Texas-based national championship youth football team that holds camps with colleges like Southern Methodist University and Texas Tech.
Courtney Jackson, the owner and a coach at the DEA, sent the film from Cowan’s winning district game in eighth grade to Texas Tech, which got him invited to the prospect camp.
“[In the beginning], he was the youngest kid on the team [and] didn’t play as much, but he was around so many talented kids,” Jackson said. “He kept working and had enough guts to come out and compete against everybody, so from there he started growing [and] was able to maximize the talent that he already had. That’s what ended up happening this summer [as] he went out there and had a great performance. His performance was so great that Joey McGuire, head coach [at Texas Tech], personally gave him the offer.”
Jackson mentioned that Cowan had a supportive family behind him–from his dad, who drives him to every practice, game and camp, to his mom, who’s always cheering from the stands and making sure he eats right. Such support is something Cowan’s mom emphasizes is a core family value.
“From a very early age, the moment that Kason stepped on the field, he had a sideline of family wearing his number and cheering his name,” Audrea Cowan said. “I think it’s been really important for Kason to have that and it’s just something that has played in his favor too because he’s been able to play fantasy football with them, review games and go over different plays after the game. There’s always reflection from my brother and from my husband on how that game could have gone better or the things he should be celebrated for.”
As a player, Jackson says Cowan’s always been hungry to improve.
“He never wavered,” Jackson said. “He never was the kid who couldn’t get coached hard. His attitude was always: I’ll get it done or I’m going to try my best to get it done. To me, that’s what held him over the edge. He [might’ve not had] much athleticism [then], but he always competed. He always took coaching, and you could see him getting better through that process.”
Earning the scholarship was a milestone on its own for Cowan, but for Jackson, who organized the camp, the moment carried even more weight.
“He had just come off an injury, so it was even more special to him and his family as he was able to go out there and put on that kind of a performance,” Jackson said. “It was a fulfilling feeling being able to see somebody you’ve seen, the adversity that he’s had to endure to not only just show up, but he showed out when he showed up. Even though we’re not his actual parents, we felt like a proud father or proud mother would feel.”
As Cowan continued his football journey into high school, he started out in the freshman locker room, but after having conversations over the summer with head football coach, Jeff Harbert, he was moved to the varsity locker room.
“It was apparent pretty early on that he had a skill set that would translate well to Friday nights,” Harbert said. “A lot of people can jump high, but there’s some people that jump and just kind of hang. He’s one of those guys. It comes effortlessly [to him].”
With the transition from middle school football to varsity football, Harbert makes it clear that the expectations are far greater: early mornings, three-hour practices, weight training and video studies. It can be mentally draining, and Cowan would be right to feel overwhelmed. Instead, Harbert sees that Cowan has embraced the challenge, showing stride and growth over just the past few months.
“You can see it from one scrimmage to the next,” Harbert said. “[He’s got] more comfortable with the speed of the game, the different coverages and the different routes that he’s got to run.”
As the youngest player on the varsity team, Harbert noticed that the older players have taken him under their wing as many see his potential and an opportunity to teach him how to be a great varsity player, something Cowan is grateful for.
“I love the team because they all accepted me into it,” Cowan said. “I’ve known a lot of them for a long time, like our receiver, Sawyer. I’ve known him since I was 10 and he’s shown me ways to get better and he’s guiding me through the varsity experience, like I had no idea how practices worked [and] what we were supposed to do, so he helped me get through practice.”
Alongside Cowan’s strong relationships with his older teammates, Harbert emphasizes that Cowan is hard on himself when he makes mistakes.
“His mental makeup will be the difference in him being a really good player or a great player,” Harbert said. “He wants to please. He knows how good he can be, [and] that part [is] good, but it’s something that he’s got to work past and work through as far as turning the page and going onto the next play and not dwelling on mistakes or speed.”
Even though Cowan has only begun his football career and already achieved great accolades,
he’s not done.
“I’ve worked all my life for a scholarship,” Cowan said. “It means a lot, but that doesn’t mean that I’m done. I’m not set on Texas Tech. I’d love more offers and I want to work and train towards that.”
With every route he runs and every rep in practice, Cowan does his best to make the most of his time on the field, always doing whatever he can to help his team win. Still, he admits, there’s pressure that comes with being both a freshman and a rising star.
“I feel they’ll still overlook me because I’m a freshman and small,” Cowan said. “But I want them to throw it my way [so] I can show them what I can do [because] the more they trust me, the more I can trust myself to go out there and show out.”