Wardlaw University šŗšø Player Of The Week: Samuel Cooper, San Diego, scored 52 TDās, totaled over 3,000 yards in 2022
2023 ATH drawing interest from Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State earned Wardlaw University national honors after offers from All-American institutions Army, Navy
6-foot-2, 215-pound three-star Class of 2023 quarterback Samuel Cooper announced on Twitter and Instagram on Friday, March 4 that he earned Division 1 offers from Army, Navy, and Idaho State. And with Coopersās announcement, comes another announcement.
Cooper has been named the first-ever Wardlaw University National Player of the Week for March 14-19, 2022.
Cooper received his No. 1 and 2 offers from Morgan State and Black Hills State and is also drawing interest from Pac-12 players like Arizona State, Oregon, and Oregon State.
However, Cooperās most recent entourage of scholarship offers from Americaās No. 1-2 military service academies have allowed him to garner our top honors.
The relevance that the Black Knights and Midshipmen garner off the gridiron was taken into special consideration for Samuelās POW selection, as four years at either Army or Navy could take Cooper down a long road of life conquest in the military and business worlds if he werenāt to earn a position on a National Football Leauge (NFL) roster.
Only 1.6% of college football student-athletes earn a role on a professional roster.
Wardlaw University scouted the University City High School dual-threat signal-caller at the Pylon 7-on-7 Tournament at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on January 11, 2021, and head scout of our service, Lee Wardlaw, came away impressed, inviting the student-athlete on our South Carolina Gamecocks national college football recruiting podcast, āCarolinacationā, in an effort to drum interest from Shane Beamerās upstart program in Columbia, South Carolina for the underrated prospect.
Cooper clocked in with a 4.65 40-yard dash time and has the capabilities of throwing the football up to 60 yards. The student-athlete competed in Arizona, Florida, and Georgia in Summer 2021 with San Diego Dreamchasers Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) 7-on-7 travel team, which is led by head coach Jason Carter, former star wide receiver with Texas A&M, the Carolina Panthers, and the Minnesota Vikings.
While Cooper hasnāt quite earned the attention of an SEC program, the speedy star went absolutely insane on the stat sheet 2021, leading the Centurions to an 8-5 record and No. 3 finish in the San Diego City League.
A Second-Team Wardlaw University High All-American in Fall 2021, Cooper earned the dubious distinction of scoring the No. 1 most touchdowns of any high school football student-athlete in San Diego and second-most of any student-athlete in the entire U.S., a figure that Lee Wardlaw cross-referenced with data from Max Preps, scoring 52 total touchdowns.
The only student-athlete stopping Samuel from a First-Team QB finish was Valdosta, Georgiaās own Jacurri Brown, a four-star Class of 2022 dual-threat from AAAAAAA (7A) South Georgia superpower Lowndes High School that signed with the University of Miami Hurricanes.
Brown is currently competing for the starting quarterback position at first-year head coach Mario Cristobalās program in South Beach.
Through 12 games, Samuel completed 126 of 199 passes for 2,112 yards, according to the San Diego-Tribune, Samuel registering a 63.3% completion percentage.
Does it come as a surprise to the two-way star who registered 29 tackles and six tackles for loss at linebacker? Not at all.
The Centurions QB recorded 3,278 overall offensive yards, a measure that ranked No. 1 in San Diego and No. 6 in California, āthe quarterback state,ā beating wide receivers, running backs, and others to the punch during the process.
As Cooper earned Wardlaw University All-American in December, he also received the San Diego Underclassmen of the Year Award, an accolade of high honor for a top-grading high school football city such as San Diego.
The QB earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first-ever non-running back to earn the award.
The Tribune reported that Samuel rushed for 1,233 yards and 23 touchdowns and caught three touchdown passes for 119 yards while lining up at wide receiver, going to the house on scores of 27, 35, and 57 yards.
Offers from Army and Navy delivered a sigh of relief for Samuel, who can now cash the mental check of finally achieving the goal of earning a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) offer.
Thereās still plenty of work to do for one of high school footballās hardest-working prospects in America.
The athlete arises 5:30 a.m. daily to throw around weights and complete conditioning and has a full senior season ahead in San Diego, California has a lot to look forward to.
Cooper demonstrates devoted dedication and pays keen attention to detail.
Boasting a 3.8 GPA while keeping other off-field ventures in motion, Army or Navy could provide the perfect fit, even if a bigger-name school searches for Samuelās services.
Cooper will carefully consider both Army and Navy during the college recruitment process. āMost of my coaches were in the military, and my father was a member of the Army. My coaches taught me to be a leader, and my father raised me with self-discipline, perseverance, and personal courage. I believe these attributes would carry me far into Army or any other military school,ā Cooper said of the Black Knights.
āBeing from San Diego and experiencing life in other cities due to my fatherās military career has greatly impacted my life. My coaches told me that there is more to life than football since I can remember playing the game. The Naval Academy is an excellent fit for me because I would have the opportunity to represent myself, my family, my city, and my country all over the world after Iām finished with football. Navy allows me to play college football at a very high level and make a difference in todayās modern combat battlefield,ā he said of the Midshipmen.
Either playing for the Black Knights or Midshipmen and subsequently choosing to proudly serve our country would provide an excellent opportunity for the Wardlaw Univesity All-American from Californiaās Golden Coast, but if Pac-12 and other Power 5 schools come calling, Samuel will have to weigh his options.
In the meantime, heāll stick to whatās important: winning high school football games, playing with a relentless, team-first effort, and putting up big-time numbers.