Missouri lands commitment from Ohio State transfer, former top 100 prospect Mookie Cooper
Some big news just landed for Eli Drinkwitz’s Missouri program, which was even teased by the coach on Tuesday morning, as the Tigers have landed a commitment from a coveted transfer prospect.
Former Ohio State receiver Mookie Cooper just announced his decision to transfer to Mizzou. The St. Louis native was a top 100 overall prospect in the 2020 recruiting cycle and the No. 16 receiver prospect in the nation according to 247Sports Composite Rankings.
The 5-foot-8, 193-pound Cooper played in the 2020 Under Armour All-American Game and signed with Ohio State over scholarship offers from Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma, Texas and USC, among others.
Cooper will have four seasons of eligibility remaining at Missouri, as he did not play for Ohio State this season and decided to enter the transfer portal in late December.
There is optimism that the NCAA will allow all undergraduate players the ability to transfer once without forcing them to sit out a season this offseason. If that happens, Cooper will be eligible immediately next season.
Even if that doesn’t happen, Cooper could apply for a waiver to play in 2021, as he’s much closer to home following this move.
While Missouri’s leading receiver, Keke Chism (458 receiving yards in 2020), has made the decision to return next season, Damon Hazelton Jr., the team’s second-leading receiver, will not be returning.
Should Cooper be eligible to play, look for him to get plenty of opportunities to showcase his skills on the field for the Tigers in 2021.
Here is Cooper’s highlight reel from his time with Trinity Catholic High School in St. Louis.
Drinkz continues to work. To think we could have kept Odom and been happy with the status of last place recruiting in the SEC.
Nice 13th place recruiting class in the league you’ve got there. At least with Barry you were top 40 in the country. Not anymore. One four star recruit…
Makes it hurt worse when the ‘inferior’ recruiting keeps beating you doesn’t it?
Perhaps you have 2020 recruiting in mind when Drink just got here? I think it was 54 that year which is usually expected when firings/hirings occur that late in the recruiting cycle. The 2021 class (by 247) is the 9th best in the SEC (without Mookie), and it is the highest ranked class for Missouri since they have been tracking. I loved Barry, but Drink seems to be shifting us to a different gear.
Destin, it’s not hard to make fun of Mizzou’s recruiting, but somehow you failed miserably. In 5 years at Mizzou, Odom only cracked the top 40 once, in 2019 with the 37th ranked class. One of the biggest complaints about Odom was his terrible recruiting. And yes, the 13th ranked class that you’re pointing out was Odom’s 2020 class (and all of his recruiting classes, actually).
Drink, in one year, has signed a 2021 class that has 5 4-star players (according to RIVALS), and has 2 4-star transfers. We’re ranked 26th Nationally on 247Sports and 21st nationally on RIVALS. We’re currently 9th in the SEC for 2021, and 3rd in 2022.
You whiffed on that one, bud.
Solid pickup. Now if we can get a real DC we’re going to be going places.
I wonder if Drinkz is considering a promotion from within, for the DC.
who you thinking of? i would rather get an experienced DC that can recruit. I feel Mizzou should of learned it’s lesson with experimenting with first time coaches. let another team experiment on the coach and then buy him. The DC is a critical position that shouldn’t be left to risk. I hope that makes sense.
He looks like a Johnathan Johnson type. He’s not the big-time deep threat we need but if he has good hands he should have no trouble getting playing time, probably at Knox’s expense. However I fully expect the NCAA to make him sit out a year.
Ok looking at his film I get it, he’s not particularly tall but has a freakish combination of speed, strength and agility, he simply out athleted the competition through HS, at the college level he will have to actually work to succeed. He can no longer on his athletic gift, hopefully Drinkz staff are the ones who can get that through to him.
“He can no longer” rely or get by “on his athletic gift.”
This is a good land for a multitude of reason. Welcome home Mookie.
I view recruiting as sort of like making a snow man-snow ball, first you get some then suddenly you’ve rolled up a lot. The teams constantly getting to the list of 4 and winning their conferences all have one thing in common, line after line of talent.
Absolutely.
For the first time in nearly a decade, Mizzou will have a solid receiving corp. Maclin, Hester, Lovett, and Cooper are all highly rated dudes. Tauskie Dove and Kris Abrams-Draine could be solid as well. This kinda changes the landscape at Mizzou and I’m all for it.
His high school team-mates were some of the better blockers I’ve seen in High School football, especially in broken plays, run-backs, kick receptions. I honestly don’t know how good he will be in the SEC. But he must have legit speed to make those plays and not just speed but quick starts, quick changes of direction, and quick acceleration.