Millbrook junior Corey Cooper #6 is tackled as Broughton holds off Millbrook by a score of 37 to 21 Friday Night Spetember 16, 2011 at Broughton High School in Raleigh, NC.
Aug 1, 2012
Anyone who has endured the recruiting process will tell you it's a long process. It's a marathon.
For Millbrook High School wide receiver Corey Cooper, the long process came to a quick end on Tuesday night.
Around 9:30 p.m., Tuesday, Cooper got a phone call and an offer from the Louisville Cardinals. Within an hour, Cooper called the coaching staff back and gave his verbal commitment.
"I just knew it was the right choice for me," Cooper said.
Last week, Cooper visited Louisville and came away impressed. He said he liked everything about the campus and the program.
Cooper posted over 400 receiving yards last season for Millbrook, earning all-conference honors and helping the Wildcats to a state playoff appearance.
"He's a great possession receiver, he's got good speed, and he's a tough man to cover," Millbrook coach Clarence Inscore said. "He's a game changer... We count on him to make some big plays."
During the 2010 and 2011 seasons, Cooper, who has played varsity football since his sophomore year, had the opportunity to play with another game changer at Millbrook – running back Keith Marshall. Last year, Marshall was one of the most sought after recruits in the nation, and pretty much every school in the nation had extended an offer to him. He eventually signed with Georgia.
Cooper and Marshall became close, and Cooper credits Marshall with helping him get to the level he's at today.
"We were really close. We talk every day, we still text now," Cooper said. "He taught me a lot... He stayed on me about my grades and stuff."
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Playing on a team with Marshall also meant more college coaches were coming to watch practices and games, which meant more exposure for Cooper.
"It definitely got me exposure. There were college coaches and practices and all the games, and it gave me the opportunity to show out," he said.
Inscore agrees.
"The exposure you get with a kid like Keith on your team is huge," he said. "We had college coming here that we had never seen before... So it opens up a lot of doors for kids that maybe wouldn't have gotten that exposure."
In his own words, Cooper is looking to move out of the shadows of Marshall at Millbrook this season.
"Everybody says we lost Keith, but I'm not worrying about that," he said. "We have work to do... We're a sleeper team this season, but we should be pretty good."
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