Before D.J. Cooper helped lead Ohio to the Sweet 16 this weekend, the guard didn't attract a lot of attention of the top college programs in high school.

That apparently changed after his freshman year.

Cooper, a junior, said Sunday both Tennessee and Baylor encouraged him to transfer to their schools following that season, when he averaged 13.5 points and 5.9 assists and scored 23 in a first-round upset of Georgetown.

"It was surprising, being my first experience, that schools were wanting me to come play for their programs," Cooper told CBSSports.com. "I didn't want to do that. I wanted to stick with Ohio and Coach (John) Groce.

"I didn't think about leaving. It's about loyalty. I'm sticking with Coach Groce, he believed in me from the start. I didn't listen to any of that (transfer talk). I just focused on getting better as a sophomore."

The revelations could get some coaches in hot water. Trying to recruit a player from another school without a release is against NCAA rules.

Baylor coach Scott Drew told The New York Times that he has had no contact with Cooper since he signed with Ohio.

"After he signed with Ohio, I never talked with the mom or the dad or D.J. We wish him the best of luck in his career," Drew told the paper.

That account is disputed by Cooper's mother, Dionne.

"He wasn't necessarily calling and saying, 'Come on over,'" she told The Times. "He would say: 'Oh, this is great. I knew you could do it. The exposure you're getting now, you're not getting it in the MAC because you're not on TV.' He was really trying to sell to me. 'We know you can do these things, but because of where you are, you're not getting the attention you deserve.'"

Former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl was cited by Cooper's dad, Donnell, as the most-aggressive suitor.

Pearl was fired last March and is currently serving a show-cause penalty of three years for NCAA violations. He denied the allegations on his SiriusXM radio show Monday.

"I guess the details are that D.J. Cooper's dad said that Tennessee and Baylor had reached out and tried to get him to transfer," Pearl said. "He didn't make a big issue of it but said it happened. All I can remember is a couple of years ago we played against them. He was a terrific young player and, you know, he was a player of the year in that league. I think I remember saying really nice things about him. But as far as reaching out and contacting and trying to get him to transfer, absolutely not. Didn't happen."

The whole experience opened Cooper and his family to underbelly of college basketball.

"It's hard to say how many there were contacting us," Donell Cooper said Sunday night at Bridgestone Arena. "It was shocking to me that so many coaches would do that behind a school's back."

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