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After being on the outside looking in for months, Gahanna class of 2016 defensive end Jonathon Cooper is finally considered a five-star prospect. According to the 247Sports Composite, a mixture of all the major recruiting outlet rankings, Cooper is now among the top recruits in the senior class.
The U.S. Army All-American now gives the Buckeyes two five-star pledges. Cooper, who stands 6'3 and weighs 238 pounds, joins the younger brother of current Ohio State standout Joey Bosa, Nick Bosa of St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida as the lone five-star prospects in the star-studded OSU class. The crop of 2016 Buckeye commits is considered the best in the country.
Cooper, the second weak-side defensive end and 26th-overall prospect in the 2016 class, committed to Ohio State in November 2014 over a long list of scholarship offers. Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes beat out the likes of Kentucky, Michigan State, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma to keep Cooper close to home and in the Scarlet and Gray.
Clark ready for season
Future Buckeye Danny Clark is ready for the upcoming season. The Class of 2017 QB is set to start his first year under center for Akron Archbishop Hoban after transferring from Massillon Washington last season.
"So far, so good," Hoban's head coach Tim Tyrrell told FridayNightOhio.com in a recent interview on his new signal caller.
"I just know that from the moment he got here, he's been a good kid. I like coaching good kids. He's willing to work. Everything I ask him to do he does. He's a good kid. I don't base that on if Urban Meyer is recruiting you. He's just a great kid. A great leader. He's meshed very well from the moment he became a student at Hoban, whether it be on the football field or in the classroom. He's engrossed himself in the school," Clark's coach said.
Clark, running back Todd Sibley (a fellow OSU class of 2017 pledge), Michigan State commit Jonah Morris, and the rest of the Hoban squad take on Canton McKinley on Thursday in what should be a solid matchup.
Buckeyes impress Chandler
Thad Matta's Texas pipeline might just be getting started. After landing Austin Grandstaff and Mickey Mitchell out of the Lone Star State in 2015, class of 2017 four-star point guard Jay Jay Chandler has caught the eye of the Ohio State coaching staff.
The 6'3, 170-pound Chandler made a visit to the Ohio State campus on Friday, a day after checking out what the Kentucky Wildcats had to offer. Even though OSU and UK have yet dish out a scholarship, plenty of programs have. Creighton, Houston, Oklahoma, and Virginia Tech are just a few of the schools to give Jay Jay a chance to play on the next level.
"If an (OSU) offer comes, then I'll be up for another visit or a football game. I talked to the coaching staff for an hour, they told me how they're gonna start recruiting me and stuff, that they'll be seeing me more to know me better," the Katy, Texas native told the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
While the 2017 class won't touch campus anytime soon, it hasn't stopped Matta and crew from focusing on landing one of the top classes in the country. Still two years away from hitting the court with the Buckeyes, OSU already holds a verbal pledge from Westerville South big man Kaleb Wesson.
See what Chandler would add to the class with these highlights: