Cornell set to announce Wednesday

Rivals100 defensive end Jashon Cornell had targeted an Aug. 28 decision date, but the St. Paul (Minn.) Cretin-Derham Hall four-star has decided not to wait that long.

Cornell will announce at a 9 a.m. CT press conference at his school, the same time friend and fellow Rivals100 prospect Justin Hilliard will be announcing his commitment.

"I felt I was ready for it and Justin was doing it, so I felt it would be nice to do it together and shock the world," Cornell said.

"We have been planning this since the beginning of our sophomore year of high school, just knowing we are two highly-ranked players on the defensive side. Having a good outside linebacker and a good defensive end both on the weakside could be like a Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs type of thing."

Cornell's and Hilliard's finalists have several schools that overlap. The top five for Cornell consists of Iowa, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Penn State and Ohio State, and he has been recruited by and visited most of those schools over the last year-plus.

"I think the most important thing for me is the relationship we have built with the coaching staff and then the school academically," Cornell said. "We did the research on each coaching staff and the research on each school academically. I talked to some players of the schools that go there now, seeing which coaches are most respectful and are they really what they say they are."

Even after Cornell announces on Wednesday, though, that research may continue in the following weeks. He had planned to visit Penn State this weekend, but has postponed that trip to July 15. He then plans to visit Michigan State on his way back from State College, either on July 16 or July 17.

"I think I am going to take two more visits, then I will be done for good until the football season starts," Cornell said.

The 6-foot-2, 261-pound Cornell is the nation's No. 76 ranked prospect in the 2015 class. He is also ranked as the No. 6 strongside defensive end and the state of Minnesota's top overall player in the class.