Jalen Cochran Canton Arizona recruit
For the longest time, Jalen Cochran thought the recruiting process was for others and not for him.
The 6-foot-4, 235-pound Canton defensive end was ranked No. 10 on the Free Press’ Fab 50 list of the state’s top players and was certainly talented enough to be recruited by some of the best college football programs. When he played on Canton’s basketball team, he could guard anyone on the court, displaying athletic ability which easily translates into a valuable football player.
But many of the top programs passed on Cochran.
It had nothing to do with his physical abilities.
It had everything to do with his grade-point average.
“My four years in high school were like a roller coaster,” Cochran said. “I didn’t really take things seriously almost until I hit bottom. I always knew I could play on the highest level. I just had to get my grades up.”
Most high school kids don’t understand that freshman year can be the most important year from an academic standpoint. If you get off to a bad start, it can haunt you the rest of the time in high school.
Cochran learned that the hard way. Getting his grades up was no small feat, but college coaches from Arizona helped him find a way to do it.
Arizona, coached by former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez, liked Cochran’s potential, but the youngster was resigned to the fact that he wouldn’t be playing at that level for two years.
“At the time my grades were super bad,” he said. “I was planning to go JuCo.”
But the Arizona coaches offered an alternative to the junior college route.
“Arizona put me on an academic plan months ago, they thought I was going to qualify,” Cochran said. “It was taking summer classes, online classes, just having an actual plan because I never had a plan. I ended up getting my grades up, so it was kind of a blessing to my family and I because I’m able to play D-I football.”
Once it became apparent Cochran had a chance of qualifying for a Division I scholarship, more schools began flocking to him, including Michigan State.
But Cochran wisely thought about which school put him in the position to be eligible to sign a letter of intent, so he turned down MSU.
“With the late offer, they really weren’t involved with my recruitment that much,” he said. “It was kind of late. Personally I think I’m a Plan A player.”
Had his grades been better, Cochran would have been recruited by everyone in the Big Ten and then some.
He was sold on Arizona the minute he set foot on campus a couple of weeks ago.
“It was 65 degrees and people thought it was actually cold,” he said, laughing. “I was like, uh, not really. I had my shorts on. It was crazy. I didn’t see any grass on the ground. It was palm trees and rocks. It was all new to me.”
Being a good student is no longer new to Cochran, but it was a grueling experience to work hard at studying and earning good grades.
“Absolutely, it was hard, but now that I think about it, it was so worth it,” he said. “All the stress I had to go through, now that it’s all over I’m so happy.”
Contact Mick McCabe: 313-223-4744 or mmccabe@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mickmccabe1.
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