Texas '18 TX DB - Anthony Cook (Texas Verbal)

-Five-star cornerback Anthony Cook was relatively quiet on the weekend. A couple bigger receivers caught passes on him downfield but, overall, there was not a lot of action to this side of the field.

 

SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

Houston Lamar five-star cornerback Anthony Cook, meanwhile, got up close and personal with several Ohio State pledges on Team Vapor Speed. And though the team — which featured safety commits Jaiden Woodbey and Josh Proctor, cornerback commit Sevyn Banks and linebacker commit Teradja Mitchell — lost in the championship round of the 7-versus-7 tournament, it was an opportunity Cook relished.

The 6-foot, 168-pound Cook is considered the second-best cornerback and No. 8 prospect overall in the Class of 2018, and he's arguably the staff's top remaining priority. He visited Columbus for the first time with his family for the Spring Game in mid-April, and couldn't stop gushing when asked what stood out about the Buckeyes.

“Three defensive backs in the first round. That's enough for me,” Cook said. “If you can put my position in the league, that's always attractive. I know if I go to Ohio State, I will be developed, I'll be challenged every day in practice because they have some of the best receivers and [the cornerbacks are] on a high pedestal, so scouts and stuff are looking at them.”

The Buckeyes co-hosted a satellite camp at Texas Southern in Houston last month, which was certainly geared toward spending time with Cook and his teammate, four-star wide receiver Al'vonte Woodard. In fact, Meyer and coaches from Texas never left his side the whole afternoon.

“I feel like we have a pretty good relationship. We talk like every other day, if not every day,” Cook said of Meyer. “I talk to coach [Kerry] Coombs also every day. I like how he's always fired up. I love that. I might not say much, but I'm always fired up.”

That was evident on Saturday night, as Cook and California five-star wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown got into a little scuffle during one-on-one drills at The Opening Finals. There was a bit of pushing and shoving — and Cook had his shirt ripped — but cooler heads ultimately prevailed.

“I was just letting the receiver know that I'm here and I'm not backing down,” Cook said. “Things did get a little heated, but that's competition. That's what I live for.”

Most prognosticators assume Cook's recruitment will come down to Ohio State and Texas — marking the first real battle between Meyer and his former protégé Tom Herman — but he says not so fast. Clemson, LSU and Notre Dame are also in the mix for his pledge.

“Whatever school I can come in and have a chance to play right away,” Cook said. “Somewhere I can get developed and they have to put my position in the league. All of those schools have that, so it will be tough. I'll just pray and hopefully I'll make the right decision.”

 

#OhioState 5-star Corner target @_ACook21 goes from 10 schools to his Top 3 #OhioState #Texas #LSU https://t.co/wMltncmPF8

— Bill Kurelic (@Bill_Kurelic) August 1, 2017

 

Ohio State makes the cut for 5-star CB Anthony Cook

It appears Houston Lamar High 5-star cornerback Anthony Cook has his final cuts before announcing his decision. As he hinted a month ago at The Opening Finals in Oregon, the No. 2 corner in the Class of 2018 per the 247Sports composite has narrowed his list of contenders from five schools to three.

The announcement Monday night eliminated Clemson, where Cook was expected to visit on July 21 but didn’t, and Notre Dame. Cook told SEC Country’s Sam Spiegelman at The Opening what he was looking for in his final group.

“The school that puts itself in a position to lead … I want to make an early impact, so that has to be a factor. Where I can be developed, so where I see the most development from dudes from high school, how they developed in college and then into the league.”

“All those five schools come to mind,” Cook added. “That’s why it’s so tough.”

It’s getting easier, apparently, as two schools have fallen to the wayside. Ohio State remains the perceived leader for Cook, but there’s no doubt that Texas and LSU are both sincere threats. Geographically, the Buckeyes are at a serious disadvantage. But there appears to be no predisposition toward staying home for Cook.

But in most cases, if a player can get the same experience at School A that he can get at School B, he’ll choose School A if that place is significantly closer to home.

So Ohio State must prove to Cook and his family that it can provide more than the other two schools. The nation’s No. 13 overall player shed some light on how he evaluates the programs with Land of 10 in July.

“It is difficult, because I have to choose between one of those schools,” he said of Ohio State and Texas. “The energy at both of those schools is exactly the same. The only thing Ohio State has that Texas doesn’t is the winning record and the NFL production.”

What Texas does have is a new coaching staff hellbent on securing the state’s top talent a year after the Buckeyes landed four of the best players in The Longhorn State. So far in the Class of 2018, Herman has landed four of the state’s top five players. Only No. 1 Cook remains uncommitted.

LSU, thanks to a strong relationship between Cook and defensive backs coach Corey Raymond, has quietly kept itself in the race, as well.

“He hits me up every day, every single day,” Cook told Spiegelman. “Not a day goes by that he doesn’t hit me up. It’s casual talk, him checking up on me and saying good morning and asking how class is going and how my summer is going and how I feel about the Tigers.”

Cook’s plan is to return to each school on his list before making a decision, with an official visit to Ohio State scheduled for Sept. 9. The Buckeyes have done everything they can at this point to land Cook. With a late November decision expected, time will tell whether they did enough.

 

Texas blows up on recruiting trail; can it impact Anthony Cook?

In the last two months, as Ohio State and Miami have traded the No. 1 ranking for the Class of 2018 recruiting class, a slowly creeping band of Bevos have become the hottest team in America on the recruiting trail.

In fact, old pal Tom Herman and his Texas Longhorns, with the Tuesday addition of 4-star tight end Malcolm Epps, have moved ahead of Mark Richt’s Hurricanes and now are sitting directly behind the Buckeyes with the second-ranked class in the nation.

There was never a doubt that Herman would recruit well in Austin, because any coach should be able to sell what the Longhorns have to offer from a resources standpoint. The meteoric rise up the recruiting charts has been expedited by a major push in Texas by Herman, Tim Beck, Stan Drayton and others who formerly were part of the Buckeyes football program.

Since June 5, Texas has landed 5-star safety BJ Foster, 4-star WRs Brennan Eagles and Al’vonte Woodard, 4-star DB Jalen Green, and 4-star DT Keondre Coburn — all from Texas. A week prior, 4-star safety DeMarvion Overshown committed to the Longhorns.

Texas also went out of state to land 4-star wide receiver Rondale Moore and big-time tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson.

That’s a major two-month run.

Of course, the Horns are hoping they’re not done in their state. They’re working overtime to show 5-star cornerback Anthony Cook, a teammate of Woodard’s at Houston Lamar High School, that he belongs at home as a part of a revamped Longhorns secondary.

Texas has been as hot as anyone in the country in the recruiting game. If the Longhorns come out of the gate firing on all cylinders on the field, things will get real interesting with respect to Cook’s recruitment.

 

Making the Case: Why the #Buckeyes will land 5* DB Anthony Cook https://t.co/4XBJIwsh0E

— Marc Givler (@MarcGivler) August 11, 2017

 

903346497298759680 is not a valid tweet id

 

Call us conspiracy theorists, but Thursday's clues look good for Ohio State's chances at a top CB prospect https://t.co/0VH1F32WkW

— Land-Grant Holy Land (@Landgrant33) September 1, 2017

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN (ALMOST)

Houston Lamar five-star cornerback Anthony Cook told Eleven Warriors at The Opening Finals this summer he planned to make his college decision before Halloween. Now it's official, as he told 247Sports' E.J. Holland he'll choose among LSU, Ohio State and Texas on Oct. 30.

The 6-foot-1, 168-pound Cook is considered the second-best cornerback and No. 14 prospect overall in the Class of 2018. He visited Columbus for the first time with his family for the Spring Game in mid-April, and couldn't stop gushing when asked what stood out about the Buckeyes.

"Three defensive backs in the first round. That's enough for me,” Cook said. "If you can put my position in the league, that's always attractive. I know if I go to Ohio State, I will be developed, I'll be challenged every day in practice because they have some of the best receivers and [the cornerbacks are] on a high pedestal, so scouts and stuff are looking at them."

Cook's recruitment seemingly marks the first true battle between Meyer and his former protégé Tom Herman — who has helped the Longhorns to a Top 2 recruiting class before coaching a game in Austin — but the Tigers also find themselves in a good place thanks to their history of sending defensive backs to the next level, too.

"Whatever school I can come in and have a chance to play right away [is where I'll go],” Cook said. "Somewhere I can get developed and they have to put my position in the league. All of those schools have that, so it will be tough. I'll just pray and hopefully I'll make the right decision."

Cook may attend Ohio State's game against Oklahoma next week, but the timing of his announcement may make it better for an official visit to take place nine days earlier when the Buckeyes host Penn State. That could potentially give the staff the last chance to sway his decision.

Cook, who is without a doubt Ohio State's top priority at the position, plans to graduate in December and enroll early.

 

Ohio State needs to know what’s up with Anthony Cook

The Buckeyes will get a chance to firm up their 2018 defensive backfield starting this coming weekend when 5-star cornerback Anthony Cook hits Columbus for his official visit.

The Lamar (Houston) High School standout has a final three schools of Ohio State, Texas and LSU. He was in Austin on opening weekend as the Longhorns struggled defensively and fell to Maryland, but one loss rarely impacts a recruit’s decision, so don’t expect any sudden removal of Texas from his list. In fact, you should expect the Longhorns, who have four of Texas’ top 5 prospects in 2018 already committed, to make an even stronger push over the next two months.

There is very little chance that the 6-foot-0, 180-pound prospect commits to Ohio State this coming weekend. However, for the Buckeyes, this is about finding out exactly where they stand heading into his Oct. 30 decision.

 

Then there’s Anthony Cook, the 5-star cornerback from Houston. Cook was in Columbus for his official visit and while the commonly held belief is that he’s leaning toward an Ohio State verbal, it seems like none of the Buckeyes commitments in attendance had any chance to speak with him. That’s not to say he didn’t have a good visit, it’s just the way Cook prefers to handle his business.


There are fewer players in the country harder to read than 5-star CB Anthony Cook. (Jeremy Birmingham/Land of 10)
“I didn’t talk to Cook at all,” one of the Ohio State commitments said. “He is so quiet. Just seemed to be taking it all in, but not really talking to anyone.”

Cook was hosted by his good friend Jeffrey Okudah, a fellow Texan, but there’s not a whole lot of time for hanging out with recruits on their visit when a game ends at midnight and the prospect is on an early-morning flight. Ohio State will have to withstand an official visit to LSU and likely another Texas trip for Cook before his Oct. 30 decision.

 

5-Star Anthony Cook (@_ACook21) on how Top 3 looks ahead of Oct. commitment. #HookEm #Buckeyes #GeauxTigers

💸➡️ https://t.co/XzGh1Aj3Oj | pic.twitter.com/02D7YD52Uk

— Nick Krueger (@KroogCity) September 16, 2017

 

Five-star CB Anthony Cook (@_ACook21) recaps his Texas OV. Horns made a HUGE impression #HookEm. https://t.co/o1wojySm9g pic.twitter.com/n2qGWq5zSv

— "EJ Holland" (@EJHollandOn3) October 2, 2017

 

Is Ohio State losing its grip on Anthony Cook?

After an early September visit to Texas — and watching the host Longhorns lose to Maryland 51-41 — things were going in a pretty good direction for the Buckeyes and 5-star cornerback Anthony Cook. Ohio State has been the presumptive — and declared — leader for the No. 2-ranked cornerback in the 247Sports composite 2018 rankings. A week after Texas visit, Cook made his official visit to Columbus.

But there was always a chance Texas would host Cook again, and the Longhorns did just that following their win at Iowa State last Thursday, welcoming in Cook and his family for a three-day visit without the hoopla of a game and all that. This was just the good stuff, the “get to know you, real talk” stuff.

So it’s not a surprise that coming off that visit, Cook is now letting people know that he has two teams — Ohio State and Texas — tied for the lead in his recruitment. That’s expected, and yes, it’s a bit of bad news if you’re an Ohio State fan. But there’s also at least a little reason to be encouraged nonetheless.

Why?

Because the Buckeyes aren’t out of Cook’s top spot, they’re just sharing it now.

Cook will not visit Ohio State again before his expected Oct. 30 decision, that much is clear. He doesn’t have any planned returns to Austin, either, but that’s a relatively short trip to make and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he ended up there one more time before a commitment is made. That’s why the concern for Buckeyes fans should be growing.

Urban Meyer, Greg Schiano and Kerry Coombs will be going all out to make sure that home is where Cook’s heart has been for the last year-plus: in Columbus.

 

JUST AROUND THE CORNER

Texas played at Iowa State on Thursday evening, which allowed the Longhorns to then host Houston Lamar five-star cornerback Anthony Cook for an official visit over the weekend. It was his second trip to Austin this fall — as he also attended Texas’ season-opening loss to Maryland — and it couldn’t have gone any better for home-state Longhorns.

“Texas really showed me something,” Cook told 247Sports’ E.J. Holland. “I would give the visit the highest grade possible. On a 1-to-10 scale, it was a 10. I saw a lot of things that I liked and how I would fit on and off the field. I like the alumni base and connections. I also got to talk to Michael Huff and Aaron Ross. It’s great to see those players come back and support.”

It goes without saying how much head coach Tom Herman needed to knock the visit out of the park in order for Texas to have a shot at the 6-foot, 168-pound Cook, who is widely considered the top-rated cornerback in the Class of 2018. The Longhorns have long been looking up at Ohio State, as his relationship with the staff and the Buckeyes’ knack for putting defensive backs in the National Football League have put them ahead from the onset of his recruitment. That’s all changed following this weekend, though.

“I would say Ohio State and Texas are one now,” Cook said. “They are both tied at the top, so LSU is number two. I don’t know what it was about Texas. It was just one of those visits where you feel it. I loved everything about it.”

Cook will take his third and final official visit to Baton Rouge on Oct. 14, but it's highly unlikely to factor into his final decision. That means Ohio State must hope its above-mentioned resume and two years of pursuing Cook is able to withstand one visit. That’s part of the reason I'm surprised the staff didn't advocate for Cook to take his official visit for the Oct. 28 game against Penn State, which is only two days ahead of his decision, instead of last month.

On one hand, he'll probably already have his mind made up by that point. But on the other, last impressions carry a lot of weight.

When it comes to Cook, his last memory of Columbus is watching the Buckeyes walk off the field with their heads down in a 31-16 loss to Oklahoma.

Could this be that one loss change the entire trajectory of one player’s recruitment? I doubt it, and I still anticipate Cook chooses Ohio State when it’s all said and done.

Playing alongside his good friend Jeffrey Okudah and for a program that will surely turn him into a first-round pick will be too good to pass up. But Texas has made quite the push and should absolutely be taken as a serious threat.

 

Watching 5* #Buckeyes CB target Anthony Cook this evening. pic.twitter.com/I9s2DmOKLI

— Marc Givler (@MarcGivler) October 7, 2017

 

5* DB Anthony Cook talks co-leaders, plans for his final official visit, and more https://t.co/6llKDtIhcz #Buckeyes

— Marc Givler (@MarcGivler) October 10, 2017

 

A few clips of 5* DB Anthony Cook @_ACook21 from Saturday https://t.co/pXF3yikLwn

— Marc Givler (@MarcGivler) October 10, 2017