2026 Derrek Cooper 5* RB/ATH from Chaminade Commits to Texas

[MedleyCane]

thats planet. LAF is just your standard big box commercial gym that is reasonably priced.

the luxury gyms are equinox and lifetime and then you have the smaller boutique ones that are popping up like anatomy fitness, dogpound in LA and NYC but those are more influencer celeb focused.

Thanks for the clarification.
I bounce between central Florida and DMV area these days and I note alot of different type of gyms are springing up in both areas.
There are many options.
I found one in Altamonte Springs (Orlando) area which is small but has the right equipment and caters to free weight folks. Fellow members are cool and are generally good about gym etiquette, especially re-racking plates and dumbbells and not sitting on equipment while texting.

 

[Damiencane86]

Totally agree on the idea of scrapping the state of Miami idea the program has held onto for 30+ years and focusing on the truly national approach. Will we ignore the home base ? No, but there is too much other good talent in Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas, the DMV, Texas, Jersey, and Cali for us to keep having this tunnel vision towards " the crib ".

 

[DC3]

OK, let me rephrase it. He’s the first coach that is still in his prime and has his full mental capacities We’ve had that has done that. Because it’s as clear as day now, that Richt was compromised by Parkinson’s.

Its not a good thing if the clearly compromised coach had a better record here his 3 years than someone who’s still in his prime is it?

 

[pacusmc]

This thread is awesome!!!

 

[JHallCanes]

Totally agree on the idea of scrapping the state of Miami idea the program has held onto for 30+ years and focusing on the truly national approach. Will we ignore the home base ? No, but there is too much other good talent in Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas, the DMV, Texas, Jersey, and Cali for us to keep having this tunnel vision towards " the crib ".

 

[305407cane]

We should have tried harder on Jae Lamar

If we didn’t go all in for him cause we thought we had cooper in the bag then lesson learned. Bird in hand

 

[305407cane]

Totally agree on the idea of scrapping the state of Miami idea the program has held onto for 30+ years and focusing on the truly national approach. Will we ignore the home base ? No, but there is too much other good talent in Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas, the DMV, Texas, Jersey, and Cali for us to keep having this tunnel vision towards " the crib ".

Recruit the best kids from all over the country. If they’re in your backyard then great. Keep the local coaches happy always of course. And if you’re going to take a reach kid with attributes then yeah gamble on a local kid. They make the league all the time. Isaac brown, tutu atwell, etc

 

[STG]

Or if she had wheels she would be a bike

This works just as good

 

[TRick72]

#BlameDmoney

Let's not forget a few days ago when Texas was ranked just ONE spot below us and Dmoney said they're not recruiting good and their class sucked...... They are now #5

 

[Page305]

that **** meme always get me.


But on a serious note, them boys in Texas heard that last podcast and came out swinging

 

[jmiller]

Good grief.

The kid didn’t want to come to Miami. Move I

I understand that but ive been around along time so sorry if im alarmed by this. All those reviews of past recruiting classes Dmoney has been doing i remember vividly and I also remember people at the time saying "the kid didnt want to come to Miami, move on" or "we only want guys who want to be canes" and of course my favorite "Ed reed was a 2 star ". My past experience has shown me you keep missing on guys like this and will never get back to where we wanna be especially with a coach who isn't known for his own field coaching.

 

[JHallCanes]

I barely recall the days where I would do 225 for reps, usually 8-10. This was 20 years ago. These days I stick to dumbbell presses out of fear and precaution of dropping stuff on upper extremity such as face or neck...lol....

 

[Damiencane86]

Recruit the best kids from all over the country. If they’re in your backyard then great. Keep the local coaches happy always of course. And if you’re going to take a reach kid with attributes then yeah gamble on a local kid. They make the league all the time. Isaac brown, tutu atwell, etc

Yes. We should take more of the local 3 star with chips on their shoulder types. But we have too much evidence of how local top 100 national recruitments play out. Go national. Target more OOS ballers from Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, NoLa, Baltimore, LA, etc. City kids will respond more favorably to us. And I commend the staff for making inroads into the states of Bama + Louisiana but we gotta do even more if we want to truly become a national powerhouse.

 

[cway313]

I understand that but ive been around along time so sorry if im alarmed by this. All those reviews of past recruiting classes Dmoney has been doing i remember vividly and I also remember people at the time saying "the kid didnt want to come to Miami, move on" or "we only want guys who want to be canes" and of course my favorite "Ed reed was a 2 star ". My past experience has shown me you keep missing on guys like this and will never get back to where we wanna be especially with a coach who isn't known for his own field coaching.

Good luck on your journey!

 

[Handsome Squidbum]

I worry about this for sure. They need to find someone who does more with less. That means they evaluate, develop and coach above their weight.

Lashlee. Got handed a plate of hot garbage on offense (Richts recruiting was very bad) but made in a top 26 offense in the country with two different QBs

 

[JamesQuall]

The ignore button is at your discretion. I do not care. I’m just keeping a .

Not a fan of criticism?

I don’t understand wanting to protect failures. Are you worried whatever contacts you have that give you inside info will shun you if they see you calling out the staff’s BS?

I’m genuinely asking and not just trying to rile you up.

 

[Yoyo423]

Its not a good thing if the clearly compromised coach had a better record here his 3 years than someone who’s still in his prime is it?

Not to mention, with significantly less resources.

 

[305 MOUNTAIN MAN]

128 and counting, could we please end this.

 

[TRick72]

Or if she had wheels she would be a bike

On that note, just cause she doesn’t have wheels doesn’t mean the whole neighborhood doesn’t ride her

 

[STG]

He’s done nothing and cooper may do nothing. I think the point is missing on the top local target each year. Mario didn’t know innis would do nothing when he missed on him. He legit tried getting him here.

Nailed it. It's the fact Mario can't even recruit halfway decent in his own backyard. The optics are terrible and will continue to hurt with local kids because they see all their peers spurning the hometown school.

Below are the top 5 rated kids from Dade/Broward from 2023-2026 and where they ended up/currently committed.

Now I am sure the excuse makers will come out in full force and we'll hear, "we didn't want this kid" or "that kid sucked anyways." The fact remains, Mario is getting dog walked in his own hometown for the top recruits.

If 2026 holds up, he will have gone 6 of 20 (30%) on the top kids from Dade/Broward and 1 of 5 (20%) with the local 5 stars. You can be the biggest slurper and can't deny these results are bad. Wait, who am I kidding, they won't admit it.

1. Hykeem Williams (5 star/#30) - FSU
2. Brandon Innis (4 star/#38) - OSU
3. Reuben Bain (4 star/#62) - GOOD GUYS
4. Jalen Brown (4 star/#71) - LSU
5. King Mack (4 star/#91) - PSU

2024
1. Jeremiah Smith (5 star/#1) - OSU
2. Armando Blount (5 star/#28) - GOOD GUYS
3. JoJo Trader (4 star/#42) - GOOD GUYS
4. Zaquan Patterson (4 star/#93) - GOOD GUYS
5. Jamari Howard (4 star/#110) - FSU

2025
1. Ben Hanks (4 star/#59) - UF
2. Javari Flowers (4 star/#82) - UF
3. Cortez Mills (4 star/#113) - NEBRASKA
4. Josh Moore (4 star/#125) - GOOD GUYS
5. Bryce Fitzgerald (4 star/#138) - GOOD GUYS

2026 (TBD)
1. Dia Bell (5 star/#11) - UT
2. Derrek Cooper (5 star/#29) - UT
3. Justice Fitzpatrick (4 star/#47) - UGA
4 Calvin Russell (4 star/#49) - SYRACUSE
5. James Johnson (4 star/#70) - UT