Cooper Davis fulfills childhood dream, commits to Mizzou

Missouri's scorching month of June continued on Sunday with the commitment of Viera (Fla.) defensive end Cooper Davis.

While the three-star prospect currently resides in Florida, he grew up in Missouri and is now fulfilling a childhood dream.

"Basically, I was born and raised in Lee's Summit and it was my childhood dream to play at Mizzou," Davis explained. "I followed them as a child growing up, they are my hometown team. The deciding factor was probably just the people there. They reminded me of home and I need to be there."

His relationship with the coaching staff also played a key part throughout his recruiting process.

"Me and Coach (Barry) Odom have a great relationship in my opinion," Davis said. "The same with Coach (Brick) Haley and Coach (Ryan) Walters, the people who recruited me the most. We are really just tight knit."

The 6-foot-6, 250-pound prospect chose Missouri over offers from Georgia Tech, Minnesota, Nebraska, Pitt, Tennessee, West Virginia, and many others, after taking an official visit to Columbia back on the weekend of June 14th.

Davis detailed what stood out about his time on campus and where Coach Haley sees him along the defensive line.

"Definitely the people on the team. Guys like Chris Turner and others like him. The hospitality and they are fun guys to be around but they know how to get stuff done."

"Coach Haley sees me as strong side defensive end. He likes that I'm still flexible at the size that I am. My bend at the hips while being 6'6", 250-pounds."

Davis is Missouri's 11th 2020 commitment and third on the defensive side of the ball - joining Lutheran North (Mo.) linebacker Antonio Doyle and East St. Louis (Ill.) defensive end Kevon Billingsley.

Missouri is expected to take three to four more defensive lineman in it's 2020 class.