Ohio receiver chooses in-state school

Lebanon (Ohio) wide receiver Chase Cochran capitalized on a big junior season and earned a few early scholarship offers. The 6-1, 160-pound Cochran then attended several camps this summer to see what other opportunities may await him. On Wednesday, though, Cochran came to a decision to stick close to home and attend Ohio University.

"Coach [Keven] Lightner is my recruiting coach and I called him around 1:00 today and I called Coach [Frank] Solich around 1:15 just to let them know," Cochran reported.

"I went on vacation and we sat down as a family and weighed our options. We decided this was the best place for me, I can play the quickest here and it's in-state. When you look at Coach Solich, he was the Big 12 Coach of the Year and my wide receivers coach has several Pro Bowl receivers he's sent to the NFL.I think this is one of the best coaching staffs in America and this is where I want to be.

Cochran camped at Ohio earlier this summer and he also spent time camping at Cincinnati, Indiana, Northwestern and Vanderbilt. His other offers were from the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy. Now that Cochran has made his decision, though, he says there is no looking back.

"I'm solid," Cochran stated. "I told my head coach I wanted to make the decision before the season so I could focus on the team. The off-season is always about the player and I did what I wanted to achieve. Now I can focus on the league championship and winning in the playoffs."

Ohio is bringing in Cochran to play at outside receiver and also to return punts. Now he hopes to help the Bobcats reel in someone to throw him the football.

"I've got a buddy from Middletown that plays quarterback, Caleb Watkins, and he's got an offer from Ohio so now I am trying to push for him to go there," Cochran said. "There's also some guys I know down there so they were pretty excited that I was coming."

As a junior, Cochran caught 45 passes for 1,005 yards and he also averaged 26.7 yards per kickoff return. He recorded the fastest 40-yard dash time and ran a 4.25 shuttle at the Ohio Varsity Combine in April.