Illinois Football: Illini in the top five for Mookie Cooper

Huge news for the Illinois football program dropped on Tuesday night as one of their biggest targets for 2020 narrowed his list down.

There are a handful of players who are must-gets in certain recruiting classes. The Illini haven’t been able to hit on a ton of the must-gets because of their previous coaching turmoil and the fact we haven’t been a winning program in quite some time. But that is all changing. Over the last few classes, Illinois has been able to snag some top talent. The class of 2020 is another big class of elite talent. That is why getting Mookie Cooper is important.

Cooper is a 5-foot-8.5, 193-pound wide receiver from Trinity Catholic High School in St. Louis, Missouri. He is rated as a four-star recruit who is the No. 66 player in the class of 2020 and the No. 12 wide receiver in the nation. He is also the No. 2 player in the state of Missouri as well.

On Tuesday, Cooper decided to cut his list down to just five teams who will be vying for his commitment. The five teams left for Cooper to pick from include Miami (FL), Ohio State, USC, Texas and Illinois. This is an elite list for an elite player.

I think Illinois still has a legit shot here with Cooper. But I also think this recruitment is so close between the top five he has on this list. He will be taking his first official visit to USC on June 21. That will kick off his five official visits.

There are some people saying Ohio State is the leader right now for Cooper, though. While he did just visit their program, I am not sure if he will go there. They might just be the flavor of the month right now.

I would assume it is between Illinois and Ohio State as of June 5. USC and Miami (FL) are going to be enticing with their nice weather and historical relevance. While Texas is in the top five for Cooper, I have a hard time seeing him re-commit to their program after backing away from his commitment.

If I had to speculation the race for Cooper right now, I would say Illinois 45-percent, Ohio State 30-percent, Miami (FL) 15-percent, USC 8-percent and Texas 2-percent. That is how I think his recruitment is laid out right now.

It is exciting to be in the top five for Cooper. He is a rare talent who could help this Orange and Blue program get back to the top of the Big Ten. If we could land him, we would have one of the most dynamic offenses in the nation.