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Corey Cooper to take visits
By
Jesse McCormack/ThaRinger.Com
August 6th, 2009
There are many questions surrounding not only Maywood, Illinois’ Corey Cooper,
but also his good friend Kyle Prater. TR caught up with Corey who answered
questions about his friend, where his Illinois commitment currently stands, and more.
Cooper is one of the key players on his Proviso East High School squad, one that
finished 8-3 last year and has high hopes for the upcoming season.
“We went 8-3 and lost in the second round of playoffs.” Cooper said. “This year
our goal is to win state and I think that’s a possibility, so I think we should
get to states this year.”
“We’re a real fast team. We’re not very big but we have a lot of speed, so our
defense gets to the ball really fast and our offense makes plays.”
One of those the many questions Cooper frequently gets asked is not about
himself, rather about close friend Kyle Prater and his high profile recruitment.
“We’re best friends, I grew up with him and I’ve known him almost my whole life
so we’re pretty tight.” Cooper offered. “It’s (going to the same school) been
coming up a lot. There’s a chance we may play together but we both have to make
our best decision for ourselves.”
“Yeah, I’ve been talking to him about Illinois for a while now so hopefully it
will pay off and he will come here.”
“I honestly think he’ll end up at Illinois but he’s got other big programs he’s
considering, but I think Illinois.”
As for Cooper’s recruitment, he committed to Illinois some time ago, but admits
he’s keeping the door open for certain schools
“I had 19 total offers before I committed some schools that offered me are still
recruiting me and I may still take a few more visits. I think it’s (his
commitment to Illinois) a firm commitment, but I’m not going to close the door
until signing day cause anything can happen, so I’m just going to leave the door
cracked a little bit.”
“Outside of Illinois, I’m considering Notre dame, Arizona, Tennessee, Stanford
and Missouri.
Though Cooper’s still considering several schools, there are two that stand out
in his book, both of which he plans to take official visits to.
“My favorites out of those I would say are Tennessee and Arizona.” he said. “At
Arizona they have a good coaching staff with NFL experience he’s a cool guy and
he puts people into the NFL. At Tennessee they got a new staff but I like coach
Kiffin and he’s young and I like the energy. I can see myself playing there."
“I’ll wait till the season start to take some officials. For sure I want to take
some to Arizona and Tennessee but those are the only two I know for sure.”
While Cooper wants to see some other schools, he maintains he still likes
Illinois, and it would take something drastic for him to switch his commitment.
“I think there’s a possibility I could change my commitment on campus but I will
probably wait until signing day.” he said. “It would take something real good
because I really like Illinois, so it would take something real major for me to
change my commitment.”
“I would say something would have to go wrong at Illinois to change my
commitment unless I just see an opportunity where I feel more wanted and can
play right away and more comfortable with an area that’d I’d be living in for
four years. Maybe like a bad season or a coaching change on the defensive side
of the ball or maybe one of the coaches that’s recruiting me gets fired.
Something like that would have to happen.”
Cooper says his biggest strength is his instincts, but he still needs to improve
on his tackling, and that he too often goes for the big hit.
He comes in at #264 in ThaRinger.com’s Top 300 for the Class of 2010, and plans
on playing the in 2010 US Army All-American Game.
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