THE SITUATION
As Arlington (Texas) Martin begins its pursuit of another state title, senior defensive end Ernest Cooper has shored up another area of business.
Cooper, a Rivals250 defensive end, committed to Stanford on Monday. The in-state Aggies were the other finalists in contention for the Dallas-area product, who ranks as the nation's No. 12 strongside defensive end and the No. 167 overall player in the country.
Cooper visited Palo Alto ahead of the NCAA shutdown amid the global pandemic last year. He returned to Ohio State, Stanford and Texas A&M for official visits in June. Since then, Cooper narrowed it down to two finalists and was admitted to Stanford midway through August.
"It was an incredibly hard decision," Cooper said. "It took me and my family half-a-month of deep conversations to weigh out the pros of each university. It was definitely hard, but in the end it boiled down to where you are going to find top education with high-quality football."
IN HIS OWN WORDS
On lead Stanford recruiter Bobby Kennedy: "Bobby Kennedy was the first coach to ever reach out to me. He was a humble man with the drive to be successful in all aspects of life, which stood out to me."
More on his decision: "I am always trying to be the best version of myself every day, because at the end of the day, football will be taken away and I will have a Stanford degree to fall back on. What gave me confidence was the urgency and the culture Stanford had to get better in things that didn't just pertain to football, but also becoming a better person in general."
RIVALS REACTION
A two-time All-District player at a Dallas powerhouse, including being named the Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2019, speaks volumes about Cooper. At 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds, he's a versatile defensive lineman capable of making plays off the edge or even being disruptive from the interior.
Cooper has an excellent get-off and blends quickness with power and fantastic length to disrupt and alter plays even without sacking the quarterback. He's effective bending and turning around the edge as well as playing tough and battling inside, where he can also generate a pass rush and take on multiple blockers to slow down the run.
