Hoosiers Land Top-400 DE Cooper Jones, Picks IU Over Ohio State and Michigan
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Cooper Jones (11) shares a moment with a teammate Image: Paul Oren
Written by Sammy Jacobs (@Hoosier_Huddle)
The Hoosiers found some life during the recruiting dead period as Cooper Jones, a defensive end out of Valparaiso (Ind.) High School, committed to Tom Allen and his staff on Thursday night. Jones is rated as the 379th best player nationally and the fifth best player in Indiana according to 247 Sports’ composite rankings.
Jones, a six-foot-six, 245-pound prospect, had six total offers and chose the Hoosiers over offers from Ohio State, Michigan, Iowa, Purdue and Central Michigan. Jones is the second prospect to commit in the Hoosiers’ 2021 class, which figures to be a small class again. His primary recruiter was new defensive line coach Kevin Peoples. Jones joins Rodney McGraw, a defensive end from Elkhart, on the defensive side of the ball.
In an interview with Matt Weaver from Peegs.com Cooper said, “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 (Aaron) Wellman, the new strength coach."
Cooper was part of a Valpo team that made it to the 5A State title game. Last season he made 56 tackles, six sacks and had five tackles for a loss. During his sophomore season in 2018, Cooper made 49 tackles including 10.5 for a loss and seven sacks. He also has seven pass deflections over the past two seasons.
Jones is also quite the basketball player as he helped Valparaiso to a sectional title in 2019-20 before the state tournament was cancelled. For the season, Jones averaged 9.4 points and eight rebounds per game. He is a tremendous athlete who should make an instant impact at IU.