Memphis First School to Offer Lindale’s Terrell Cooper

The impressive list of East Texans in the 2017 recruiting class with Division I FBS offers got even deeper as Lindale defensive end Terrell Cooper officially made the cut.

Cooper (6-3, 240) received his first Division I offer from Memphis, he announced via Twitter on Saturday afternoon. He became the 27th local player to receive at least one FBS scholarship opportunity.

Memphis, which competes in the American Athletic Conference, is certainly no stranger to East Texas athletes this cycle.

The Tigers have now targeted six area prospects -- Cooper, Tyler Bishop Gorman WR Judah Bell, Gilmer WR LaMarcus Morton, John Tyler CB Javontavius Mosley (UTSA commit), Tyler Lee S Makyle Sanders, and John Tyler QB/ATH Bryson Smith (Houston commit).

Memphis will be under the direction of first-year coach Mike Norvell this fall. Norvell, who previously served as an assistant at Arizona State, is replacing Justin Fuente, who is now the head coach at Virginia Tech.

Fuente guided Memphis to an 8-0 start to the 2015 season, which included a 37-24 midseason upset of Ole Miss The Tigers faded down the stretch, dropping four of their last five games to finish the year at 9-4.

Cooper was among the most productive players on a Lindale defense that was one of East Texas' best in 2015. He racked up 74 tackles (12 for loss), five sacks, forced two fumbles, and broke up two passes.

The Eagles' lineman was part of a unit that averaged less than 21 points given up per game on the way to a Class 5A Division II bi-district appearance.

Marshall, a District 15-5A co-champion and the league’s first seed for playoff purposes, edged Lindale in the two teams’ playoff meeting by a score of 21-17.

Cooper, like all high school football prospects preparing to enter their senior year, will become eligible to sign with any program that offers them on Feb. 1, 2017.

2017 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers

• Tristan Allen, Atlanta, LB, 6-3, 206 — offer from UTEP (1)
• Judah Bell, Tyler Bishop Gorman, WR, 6-3, 180 — offers from Bowling Green, Coastal Carolina, Houston, Kansas, Memphis, Navy, New Mexico, North Texas, SMU, ULL, ULM, UTSA, Wyoming (13)
• Noah Bush, Athens, LB, 6-1, 216 — offers from Air Force, Army (2)
• Lagaryonn Carson, Liberty-Eylau, DE, 6-4, 261 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Baylor, North Texas, Oklahoma, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M (9)
• Terrell Cooper, Lindale, DE, 6-3, 240 -- offered by Memphis (1)
• Trestan Ebner, Henderson, WR, 5-11, 180 — offers from Arizona State, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Colorado State, Houston, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi State, Missouri, North Texas, Ole Miss, SMU, Syracuse, UTSA, TCU, Texas A&M, Tulsa (18)
• Montrell Estell, Hooks, WR/DB, 6-2, 180 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Baylor, Kansas, Notre Dame, SMU, Texas A&M, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulane (12)
• Octavius Evans, Center, WR, 6-2, 186 — offers from Indiana, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech, Texas State, ULL (7)
• Ted Fuller, Harleton, RB, 5-11, 195 — offers from ULM, Wyoming (2)
• Tre Gatlin, Carthage, DE, 6-6, 210 —offer from Wyoming (1)
• Austin Hawley, Gladewater, DB, 6-1, 200 — offer from ULM (1)
• Kollin Hurt, Gilmer, DB, 6-3, 175 — offers from Louisiana Tech, ULM (2)
• Jordan Johnson, Hooks, ATH, 6-0, 195 — committed to Air Force (1)
• Kayce Medlock, Arp, ATH, 5-10, 186 — offers from Army, Colorado, Navy, SMU, Tulane, ULL, UTSA (7)
• Damion Miller, John Tyler, WR, 6-1, 189 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Baylor, Houston, Kansas, Missouri, North Texas, Oklahoma State; Ole Miss; SMU, Texas A&M, Texas Tech (11)
• LaMarcus Morton, Gilmer, WR, 6-2, 175 — offers from Arkansas State, Colorado State, Houston, Indiana, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, New Mexico State, Texas Tech, Tulsa, ULL, ULM, UTSA (12)
• Javontavius Mosley, John Tyler, CB, 6-1, 170 — committed to UTSA; additional offers from Arkansas State, Houston, Memphis, North Texas, SMU, Southern Miss, Texas State, ULL, ULM (10)
• Cade Pearson, Texas High, QB, 6-3, 193 — offer from Wyoming (1)
• Dhailon Phillips, Lufkin, WR, 6-3, 195 — offer from Texas State (1)
• Kordell Rodgers, Lufkin, QB/ATH, 5-10, 165 — offers from Arkansas State, Texas State, ULM (3)
• Makyle Sanders, Tyler Lee, S, 6-1, 177 — offers from Memphis, Navy (2)
• Bryson Smith, John Tyler, QB/ATH, 6-0, 170 — committed to Houston; additional offers from Air Force, Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Memphis, New Mexico, North Texas, Purdue, SMU, Southern Miss, Texas State, Tulane, Tulsa, ULL, ULM, UTSA (16)
• D’Torian Smith, Tatum, LB, 6-3, 225 — offers from Air Force, ULM, UTEP (3)
• Major Tennison, Bullard, TE, 6-6, 248 — committed to Texas; additional offers from Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Oregon, SMU, Texas Tech (13)
• Josh Thompson, Nacogdoches, CB, 6-0, 182 — offered by Arkansas State, Colorado State, Houston, Indiana, Kansas, Kansas State, Louisiana Tech, Minnesota, Missouri, North Texas, Ohio, Oklahoma State, SMU, TCU, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulane, ULM, Utah, UTSA, Washington State, Wyoming (22)
• Lakendrick VanZandt, Henderson, S, 6-1, 196 -- offered by Houston, Memphis, Oklahoma State, TCU, Tulane, Tulsa (6)
• Traveion Webster, Longview, S, 6-0, 197 — offered by ULM (1)