Former Texas WR commit Mookie Cooper includes Longhorns in Top 5

The Texas Longhorns are now a finalists for yet another one of the nation’s elite talents, and this time around, it’s one who’s especially familiar with Tom Herman’s program.

On Tuesday evening, one-time Texas commit Mookie Cooper, an electric wide receiver prospect out of Saint Louis (Mo.) Trinity Catholic, took to Twitter to announce his new top five and Texas remains in the mix.

Cooper also included USC, Illinois, Ohio State, and Miami in his top list.

Not too long ago, Cooper was among the earliest additions to Texas’ 2020 class. After making a pair of trips to Austin last year, Cooper returned to the Forty Acres on Feb. 16 for Junior Day and returned home as a Texas commit. Less than a month later, though, Cooper re-opened his recruitment on March 8.

This time around, it’s Illinois, where Cooper’s former coach and mentor, Cory Patterson, is now the tight ends coach, that’s considered the team to beat, per his Crystal Ball. Miami also gained some notable momentum in Cooper’s recruitment earlier this spring, as has USC, which is scheduled to host Cooper for an official visit on June 21.

Nevertheless, despite Cooper backing away from his initial pledge to Texas, the Longhorns have hung around in the four-star receiver’s recruitment, outlasting options including LSU and Oklahoma; both of which hosted Cooper in April.

With Texas still standing as one of Cooper’s final five options, the Longhorns should be in line to host Cooper for an official visit, which would afford him to opportunity to reunite with former Trinity Catholic teammate and Under Armour All-American receiver Marcus Washington, who will likely have his own pitch about the two playing together in Austin.

“Where Cooper really shines is with his lateral quickness and short-area burst,” BON’s Wescott Eberts wrote following Cooper’s initial commitment. “With his explosiveness, Cooper compares favorably to [Jake] Smith, but also shows more jump-cut ability than Smith to make defenders miss in small spaces. Now, that’s not to demean Smith in that regard, but Cooper is so highly rated precisely because that’s the most elite element of his skill set.”

A 5’8.5, 183-pound prospect, Cooper is ranked as the nation’s No. 66 player and No. 12 wide receiver, per the 247Sports Composite.