Recruiting picks up for Bateman

Cooper Bateman is thrilled with his new SEC offers from Auburn, Arkansas and Florida but the Salt Lake City (Utah) Cottonwood pro-style quarterback plans to remain patient at least for a few more months.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound four-star prospect by Rivals.com said he's going to let the offers continue to come in for the next couple months, then schedule some unofficial visits over the spring and summer before making his decision right around the start of his senior season.

"It's crazy," Bateman said. "It's fun to see it all develop. Once you see something with the SEC you know it's big time. Florida was the first offer and that's the top of the SEC. That's big time. Arkansas and then Auburn after that and Auburn won the national championship two years ago. I never thought this would happen to me.

"Right now I'm just going to let it keep rolling. Hopefully the offers keep coming in. Once we get to the spring I'll start making some decisions, start narrowing it down and start crossing some schools off the list that don't particularly fit me. We hope to have my decision made going into August before my senior season."

So far, Bateman has received offers from those three SEC schools mentioned above along with Boise State, BYU, Colorado, Maryland, Purdue, Utah and Utah State.

Since Bateman has yet to take visits he didn't want to name a leader but that will change once he starts hitting the road this spring.

"As far as the schools we'll be going to I'm not for sure yet but in the spring and heading into the summer we will be taking some visits for sure," Bateman said.

"I'm holding them all pretty even right now. We're going to narrow it down and make a decision but I have to take visits, too."

The Cottonwood standout said he's also talking regularly with Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Washington and Vanderbilt. Rivals.com rates him No. 129 in the early 2013 rankings.

In his junior season, Bateman threw for 2,484 yards with 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions.