By By BRUCE HIXON – Sports Editor
The offers keep coming. So do the preseason accolades.
Yet W.S. Neal Blue Eagles senior offensive lineman Jared Cooper continues to go about his everyday business just like he normally would.
One of the latest preseason honors came Sunday through the Mobile Press-Register. While Cooper was not one of that newspaper's preseason State Elite 18, he was one of only 12 players to be included among the Best of the Rest.
Much of Cooper's attention started when he was selected for the North-Star All-Star Game for juniors last December. Since then several colleges have gotten into the recruiting race of the 6-4, 280-pound Cooper.
Nine of the offers Cooper has received have come from the Division I level. That list includes Duke, Louisville, Memphis, Alabama-Birmingham, Troy, Houston, Southern Mississippi, Army and Marshall.
Hathcock said his phone rang almost constantly last spring during the early recruiting period. Those calls have slowed down this summer, but are expected to pick back up when the recruiting season starts back up in September.
Many top high school football players have already made their college commitments.
Cooper is leaning towards playing the waiting game.