Canton’s Jalen Cochran
EAST LANSING – Add Jalen Cochran to the list of names to watch this week as Michigan State football looks to close strong on National Signing Day.
Cochran, a defensive end/linebacker/tight end from Canton High, told Scout.com and 247Sports.com on Monday and later the Free Press that MSU has offered him a scholarship. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Cochran, ranked the No. 10 prospect in the state by the Free Press, the No. 32 outside linebacker in the nation by Scout.com and the No. 34 weak-side defensive end by Rivals.com, had offers from Arizona, Iowa State and Miami (Ohio) among others.
“It’s all balanced out right now,” he told the Free Press on Monday. “There’s no top three. It’s between those four.”
Cochran said he has no idea when he will make up his mind, but it appears he won’t decide until signing day.
“I’m not sure, but it could be a possibility,” he said. “I’m going to talk it over with my family. I’ll do my pros and cons on each school.”
Cochran would prefer to sign a letter of intent Wednesday and does not want to prolong the recruiting process past signing day.
Recruiting: Full coverage
“That’s not my goal,” he said. “But at this point anything is possible, but it’s not my plan.”
MSU has two defensive ends committed already in Josh King and Auston Robertson, and it is still in on two other players who could end up at defensive end, with Wednesday and the signing of national letters of intent fast approaching. So it’s possible Cochran is being recruited as a tight end, a position of need moving forward for Mark Dantonio’s program.
That’s the position MSU had in mind for junior college prospect Gary McCrae, according to 247Sports.com, and he ended up visiting Louisville over the weekend instead of MSU. MSU has one tight end committed in the class, Noah Davis of Cincinnati St. Xavier.
MSU could score again in Cincinnati this week if it can land Prince Sammons, a 6-foot-8, 260-pound lineman from Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy. The four-star prospect, who could end up at defensive end or offensive tackle, has narrowed his finalists to MSU, Auburn, Oregon and Duke and is scheduled to announce at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Another late decision involving MSU will come from defensive end Karamo Dioubate of Philadelphia Charter Prep, a former Penn State commitment. MSU, Ohio State, South Carolina and Temple reportedly are in the running for the four-star recruit.
MSU also is officially still in the mix for Detroit King cornerback Lavert Hill, whose brother Delano plays for U-M and who will decide on signing day among U-M, MSU and Penn State, where he previously committed; and for Detroit Cass Tech lineman and U-M verbal commitment Michael Onwenu.