Three-star EDGE Zion Cooley, who had been committed to East Carolina University since the summer, announced on Monday that he is officially reopening his recruitment. Cooley, a student at Carrollton High School in Georgia, becomes the first player to decommit since head coach Mike Houston’s dismissal on October 20.
Rated as a three-star prospect with a score of .8667 by the 247Sports Composite, Cooley is considered a Top 1000 national prospect, ranked 78th among EDGE players and 109th in Georgia. He initially committed to ECU on June 15, shortly after his official campus visit, and returned for an unofficial visit during the UTSA game.
“After a lot of thought and consideration, I have decided to decommit from ECU and open up my recruitment,” he wrote on social media. “I want to thank all the coaches at ECU for their hospitality and respect, and I look forward to the rest of this recruitment journey!”
Cooley has played both tight end and defensive end for four years at Carrollton, a successful program, and is projected by the Pirates to play the standup ‘RUSH‘ outside linebacker position. He stands at 6-4 and weighs 225 pounds, and has also attracted interest from schools looking at him for both defensive and offensive roles.
When he committed to ECU, Cooley had received offers from various programs, including Florida Atlantic, Georgia Southern, and Navy. He was recruited by defensive coordinator Blake Harrell and coach Rico Zackery. Harrell is currently serving as the interim head coach, and the Pirates have a 4-4 record after a recent 56-34 victory over Temple.
East Carolina’s 2025 recruiting class now has two verbal commitments and is ranked 66th nationally according to 247Sports, placing third in the American Athletic Conference.
Leave a Reply