Two more teams interested in Cooper
C.J. Cooper was good in Las Vegas earlier this spring and one of the best players at multiple AAU tournaments in southern California in recent weeks and now the La Verne (Calif.) Lutheran guard is starting to see his recruitment take off a little bit.
Southern Methodist, San Diego State and Montana State have already offered the slashing and creative 6-foot point guard with a lethal three-point shot and now Portland and UTEP are starting to show more interest. UNLV is also getting more involved too and Cooper is welcoming all the attention.
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"Recently, I have Portland and UTEP calling me," Cooper said at the Double Pump May Tournament in Carson, Calif. "I have two new schools calling me so that's good. It's picking up a little bit."
There's no doubt new UTEP coach Tim Floyd is tapping into his southern California resources and recruiting some top players from the area - and Cooper is one of them. He said now that the Miners have started to call he has to take them seriously.
"That's pretty big," Cooper said. "That means a lot. I was really surprised when they started to call but that really means a lot."
Still, it's much too early for the 2011 prospect to make any kind of commitment. More programs are getting involved - and things can pick up even more this summer - so Cooper is just biding his time, playing well on the AAU circuit and seeing what options become available.
"It's still way too early," Cooper said. "I'm looking at all of them. I like all of them right now. I have to take some visits later and I like all of them right now so it's too early to really choose.
"I have no idea yet what's going to happen. I'm still thinking about that. I don't even know what's going to happen yet."