Gahanna's Jonathon Cooper is one of the country's fastest-rising prospects, and today Ohio State put its money where its offer was.
Proud to officially welcome @JonathonCooper7 to the Buckeye family! pic.twitter.com/jKHCM8LmIa
— Urban Meyer (@OSUCoachMeyer) August 11, 2015
Signed his Financial Aid Agreement. BMMMM!!!!!!! https://t.co/hbXa2TEc3f
— Mark Pantoni (@markpantoni) August 11, 2015
What, exactly, is a financial aid agreement? Let me step aside and bring an expert in.
From Mitch Sherman of ESPN.com:
What it does: The interpretation allows high school midyear-graduating seniors to sign scholarship papers six months before the letter-of-intent signing period opens in February.
Traditionally, midyear enrollees have signed, after beginning college coursework, with the remainder of their recruiting classes in February. This ruling gives those players an opportunity to secure their scholarships before the start of their senior years.
Universities must verify that the prospect is on track to graduate at midyear before providing the agreement. Once signed, the agreement obligates the university to honor the scholarship.
As you can see, there are many reasons why a prospect of Cooper's caliber would want to sign such a document. It gives them some added layers of security, especially in a world where offers can be pulled on a whim.
Here's what these kind of agreements don't do:
It doesn’t obligate the prospect to attend the school with which he signs the financial-aid agreement. It doesn’t create a recruiting ban on other programs from pursuing the prospect after he signs the agreement.
And it doesn’t replace the letter of intent, which remains the standard document by which universities are bound to prospects, notably for the majority of prospects who graduate at the end of an academic year[.]
Basically, this is a way to show total commitment to a player who plans to early-enroll, as Cooper does next January.
For any fan wondering why they should feel excited about this, feel free to scroll back up the page. If Mark Pantoni is this jazzed, then they should be too.
Cooper's mom seems thrilled as well:
Very blessed that my son is apart of the Buckeye Family!!! GO BUCKS!!!
— Jessica Moorman (@jjmjoy) August 11, 2015
