Chaminade-Madonna five-star Derrek Cooper commits to Texas over Miami, others

The Hurricanes missed out on one of their prime targets in this recruiting cycle.

Chaminade-Madonna five-star running back Derrek Cooper committed to Texas over offers from Miami, Georgia and many other programs. He announced his college choice at a commitment party at BurgerFi in Fort Lauderdale.

“Texas (has) been putting (running) backs in the league consistently, and I’ve been seeing consistent base with that,” Cooper said. “(Longhorns running backs coach Chad) Scott, he’s a great coach. I learned a lot from him when I got there (for a visit). He taught me a lot of things I use in my game right now in high school, and it’s been working for me. So he’s a great dude and great mentor, and I want to learn from him.”

Miami has been recruiting Cooper, who is listed as the No. 2 athlete and No. 29 player in the 2026 class in 247Sports’ composite rankings, for years. After Chaminade won the 2024 state title, Cooper said he thought Miami’s staff was reaching out before he even left the field. 

Cooper said it was a tough choice when he was deciding between his final five of Texas, UM, FSU, Georgia and Ohio State.

“All those are great schools,” Cooper said. “It was hard. It was very hard. I slept about it. I dreamt about it, picking the best school for me, and I feel it was Texas is the best school for me.”

As a five-star prospect, Cooper will likely get lucrative NIL deals while at Texas. With the House settlement being approved recently, schools can now directly pay players, which influences top players’ recruitments. Cooper said it was a part of what he considered when choosing a team.

“It played a factor in that,” Cooper said. “I just looked at overall things, and I feel Texas overall (was) the best school for me.”

Cooper is a two-way player at the Hollywood powerhouse, switching between running back, linebacker and safety. He had 905 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns last season. On defense, he had 46 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, four sacks and an interception.

Cooper was a first-team Sun Sentinel All-County selection last year in football and track, earning first-team honors as part of the Lions’ 4×100 relay team. 

Chaminade-Madonna has often been a pipeline program for Miami. As the Lions have rolled to four straight state championships (and seven in eight seasons), Chaminade has sent numerous players to UM, including cornerback Te’Cory Couch, safety Keontra Smith and current wide receiver JoJo Trader, among others.

Miami has a running back committed in the class, four-star Javian Mallory from West Boca Raton.

The moment five-star Derrek Cooper (@DerrekCooper80) committed to Texas. pic.twitter.com/DTFtP93odO

— Adam Lichtenstein (@ABLichtenstein) July 20, 2025