Southeast Missouri State football signee: Austin Cooley

Austin Cooley

The Basics

Name: Austin Cooley

High School: Potosi (Mo.) High School

Position: Wide receiver

Measurables: 6-foot, 180 pounds

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Profile

Potosi senior Austin Cooley impressed his coach Mark Casey from the moment he joined the program as an eighth grader.

"He actually played some varsity as a freshman. He lettered as a freshman and from that point on he was as good as gold for us," Casey said. "He was quicker and a little bit faster than everybody else in his class. You could just tell right off the bat that he was going to help contribute pretty readily and pretty early."

The 6-foot, 180-pounder was good from just about everywhere he was put on the field with the Trojans, but Wednesday he signed with Southeast as one of four wide receivers in the Redhawks' newest class.

"He's kind of been one of those guys that, you know, he's athletic enough to play just about any position that we needed him to," Casey said. "His sophomore and junior years, we had a pretty good quarterback that threw the ball well, so he was pretty much a receiver during those years and stapled in there. His senior year, we lost our quarterback from the year before and our guy that was quarterback this year didn't throw the ball nearly as well, so we had to try to figure out other ways to get him the ball. We put him in the backfield quite a bit this year just to get him touches. He was also a corner for us and a kick returner. He pretty much did everything."

Cooley didn't stand out to Southeast coach Tom Matukewicz or many other schools right away. It wasn't until a summer camp at Missouri, where Cooley didn't drop a single pass, that the Redhawks took notice.

"He was one of those kind of hidden gems," Casey said. "I think Coach Tuke even told him that he caught his eye at a MIzzou camp over the summer and that he kind of followed him from that point on. They offered him not long after that. He had some other schools that showed some interest, but I think that he had pretty much made up his mind that he liked SEMO and didn't really venture out to try and find too much more."

According to Casey, Cooley garnered some interest from some smaller Division II and Division III schools towards the end of his high school career. However, Southeast seemed to be the best fit for him in the end.

"I think it was a couple things. I think Coach [Sherard] Poteete and Coach Tuke were a big part of it," Casey said. "But I think the fact that it was closer to home, it was a Division I school and that he liked the way they explained how they would use him. Just their overall plan made him and his mom and dad very comfortable."