2021 Countdown to Kickoff: 99 Days (Cooper Jones)

Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

#99 Days

The 2021 Countdown to Kickoff has begun! There are still 99 days left until the Indiana Hoosiers begin their 2021 season with a clash in Iowa City against the Iowa Hawkeyes but this countdown will hopefully help us all pass the long summer. Today’s profile piece is on a true freshman joining the defensive line for position coach Kevin Peoples: Cooper Jones.

Name: Cooper Jones

Hometown: Valparaiso, IN

Position: Defensive End

Year: Freshman

Height/Weight: 6’6”/245 pounds

The Indiana Hoosiers don’t often get players from the northern part of the state but they were able to land a very important player from near “The Region” in defensive end Cooper Jones. A high three-star prospect, Jones was one of the top-rated players in the 2020 class for the Hoosiers and in his COVID-shortened senior season, Jones tallied 80 tackles including 12.5 tackles for loss. He led Valparaiso High School to its third straight regional title before bowing out to Zionsville in the semi-state.

Jones was heavily pursued by several Big Ten schools and chose IU over Purdue, Iowa, Michigan and Ohio State. He told Matt Weaver of Peegs.com, “there are two big reasons why I chose Indiana. The first one is how amazing Coach Allen is and how great everything he preaches is. The culture he has created there is one I want to be a part of. The other reason is Coach Wellman, the new strength coach.”

Jones is terrific athlete that also excelled as a basketball player at Valparaiso and he used his quick feet and long frame to get off the line quickly and get by his blocker. There is a lot of traffic ahead of him at defensive end, particularly with the addition of Ryder Anderson from Ole Miss, but Jones could contend for some playing time relatively early in his career. This is still a pretty young unit and it gets even deeper with the addition of Cooper Jones.

The countdown continues with a new profile each and every day so come back to hoosierhuddle.com daily!