DC DL DeAndre Cook talks recruitment, upcoming Penn State official visit
Washington (D.C.) Friendship Academy defensive lineman DeAndre Cook has four official visits set for the summer. The three-star prospect will check out Rutgers, North Carolina, Boston College and Penn State on consecutive weekends in June.
He’s hoping to have a decision before his senior season and Cook knows what he’s looking for at the next level.
“I’m a person who is big on connections,” Cook said on Sunday at the Under Armour camp stop in Baltimore. “I know that might make or break me, because coaches could be anywhere else in a matter of two seconds. I’m big on that they’ve gotta be young. I gotta be able to connect with them about what I’m going through. Rutgers, UNC, BC, Penn State — they’ve all got people, young people from DC that if I have problems, they know what I’m going through.”
Penn State defensive line coach Deion Barnes has led the charge for the Nittany Lions, who offered back on April while Cook was on campus for an unofficial visit.
“Deion is a real cool, funny, down-to-Earth coach,” said Cook. “You’ve got examples of how he can coach because of Chop, the No. 1 defensive edge that is returning.”
Good first impression for Penn State HC James Franklin
Cook’s visit gave him a look at spring practice and gave him a first real look at Penn State head coach James Franklin.
“What really held them up for me was the energy of the head coach,” said Cook. “For some reason, I walked in and everyone was screaming. Everybody was just bumpin’ and the loudest one on the field was the head coach. With all the music, the players, I could barely hear my own mother right next me. I could hear the head coach in the middle of the field yelling, singing the songs, everything.
“Then, after practice, I guess there were some personal problems going on so Deion pulled one of their D-Linemen out and talked to him one-on-one as a man. He knew what he was going through because he’s a young coach. That’s what I look for in a defensive line coach.”
Alabama, Duke, Maryland, Michigan State, Pittsburgh, Stanford, USC, Virginia Tech and Washington are among the schools who also offered Cook this spring. Cook is the No. 70 defensive lineman nationally and the No. 4 prospect in Washington D.C. in the Class of 2024. He’s the teammate of the nation’s No. 1 prospect and another Penn State target, Dylan Stewart.
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