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The Iowa Hawkeyes have a rich history of finding under the radar recruits who have been completely overlooked by other programs due to some combination of unconventional size, under recruited geography or overlooked school. Ida Grove native Cooper DeJean checks a couple of those boxes.
But what schools may have missed on DeJean due to the small school in an under-recruited state, they will sorely regret when they get around to watching his film. Or more likely, when he beats them on the field.
DeJean will get his chance soon enough. After committing to Iowa back in April, the home grown talent is officially a Hawkeye.
Small Town Iowa Kid with B1G Dreams.@cdejean23 #Swarm21 x #Hawkeyes pic.twitter.com/8gZAgHNzRb
— Hawkeye Football (@HawkeyeFootball) December 16, 2020
While DeJean may hail from a small school in a small town in a small state, his play as a senior was big time. While he’s likely to end up at safety for the Hawkeyes, DeJean did it all for OABCIG.
On the offensive side of the ball, DeJean finished with more than 4600 yards and 62 total touchdowns. That’s not a typo. As the team’s quarterback, he tallied 3,447 passing yards and 35 TDs while completing 60% of his passes. He also ran for 1,245 yards and 24 more TDs while averaging more than 9 yards per carry.
On defense, DeJean had 53.5 tackles, 2 TFL, a sack and 3 interceptions. He also added a pair of punt return touchdowns and a kickoff return for a touchdown. He literally does it all.
The detractors will surely note the level of competition at the Iowa class 1A level, but DeJean is one of those athletes that literally jumps off the screen. He’s the type of player Iowa has had tremendous success translating to the next level.
The eye popping stats and Madden create-a-player film earned DeJean a ratings bump at 247 Sports. They rate him a 4-star while Rivals still has him at 3 stars. Despite the services taking note, DeJean’s only other offers were from FCS schools. That may have changed had he not chosen the Hawkeyes so early.
DeJean is one of 10 commits from the state of Iowa expected to sign with the Hawkeyes during the early period. He’s the only defensive back on deck for the early period, though his athletic ability should allow him position flexibility if the Hawkeyes were to add to the class in the late period.
Welcome aboard, officially, Cooper DeJean!