Ohio State Buckeyes Competing With Texas, Miami And Others For Elite 5-Star ATH

Derrek Cooper is one of the top athlete/running back recruits in the country, and the Ohio State Buckeyes have a chance to land his commitment.

They have more than a chance, in fact, because Ohio State was recently named as one of Cooper's finalists. OSU is in the Top Five alongside Florida State, Miami, Georgia and Texas.

This is a big-time recruiting battle, but to be fair, Cooper is a big-time recruit worth the time and attention these programs are going to end up spending on the recruiting trail. A 6-foot-1, 205 pound straight-up athlete, Cooper could play running back or defensive back at the college level.

He has taken snaps at running back, safety and linebacker for Chaminade-Madonna Prep, and he can really fill up a stat sheet. As a junior, he rushed 124 times for 905 yards and 13 touchdowns while also catching nine passes for 156 yards and a score. He averaged 9.3 yards per carry.

On the defensive side of the ball, Cooper notched 46 tackles (including 10 tackles for loss), four pass breakups, four sacks, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles.

He's a football player through-and-through. The 247Sports Composite ranks him as the No. 2 athlete in the 2026 class and the No. 30 recruit overall. On3/Rivals ranks him specifically as a running back. According to those rankings, Cooper is the nation's No. 3 running back.

It may be tough for the Buckeyes to pull Cooper out of Florida, but they do have a chance. Notably, he took an official visit to Ohio State over the weekend of June 20.

He's expecting to make his decision known exactly a month later, with a commitment date of July 20 announced.