Kyle Prater and Corey Cooper are best friends. They live in Maywood about two minutes from each other. While Cooper attends Proviso East, Prater's mother opted to send her son to Proviso West. But they see each other every day, hang out at the mall on weekends and work out every Sunday.
They also are two of the top five football prospects in the Chicago area in the Class of 2010. They talk frequently about going to the same college together, and Cooper, who committed to Illinois as a sophomore, is hoping to persuade Prater to be his roommate in Champaign.
"If I make a final decision to go to Illinois, I think he'll come with me," Cooper said. "It's hard to leave an in-state school. There are a lot of positives involved. The school is doing well, the program is rebuilding, the coaching is good and his family will have a chance to see him play."
The 6-2, 202-pound free safety is taking a cautious but certain route to the Illinois campus. After making his early commitment, his father advised him to visit other schools to weigh all of his options, just in case there was a coaching change or something else unforeseen.
Cooper has 17 scholarship offers, including Notre Dame, Tennessee, Arizona and Boston College. But he insists he'll enroll at Illinois for the 2010-11 school year, that he won't waver from his earlier commitment. And he thinks he'll persuade Prater to join him.
"Schools that keep the best in-state players at home, like Florida and Georgia and Texas, are dominant programs," Cooper said. "They have good teams every year. Illinois has the same opportunity if they keep the best in-state players in the state. My goal is to persuade Kyle to go to Illinois with me."
Meanwhile, Prater has more than 30 offers. He likes Illinois -- his high school coach, Famous Hulbert, played there -- but he admits he likely won't commit until January or February, and national powers USC and Oklahoma definitely are included among his five finalists.
"Corey and I are looking at Illinois, Notre Dame and Tennessee together," Prater said. "The recruiting process hasn't gotten crazy, but I'm trying to keep it all in perspective. I'm still trying to find out which school is best for me. If I made a decision now, it would be too soon."
The 6-4, 205-pound wide receiver, rated among the top 40 players in the nation by every scouting service, will narrow his list to 10 schools within the next week or two, then to five when he's ready to make official visits. This isn't the game plan he had intended.
"I'm still not sure which schools I'm most comfortable with," Prater said. "I wanted to make an early commitment, like Corey did, because I didn't want it to get crazy during the season. I didn't want recruiting to interfere with my team. But I want to keep my eyes open. I want to make the right decision. I don't want to have any regrets."
Prater's reputation is spreading. The longer he waits, the more big-time programs likely will express interest and make offers. To prepare for his senior season, he has gained 15 pounds, improved his explosiveness and reduced his 40-yard dash time from 4.6 seconds to 4.48.
"I want to make an impact at any school I go to," he said. "I want to play in a pro-style offense where they throw the ball a lot. I want to translate my game to the NFL. I feel wherever I go, I have the athletic ability to start right away because I have worked hard for it."
Meanwhile, the top-rated player in the Chicago area, 6-7, 250-pound tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz of Johnsburg, has 18 offers but admits Ohio State and Iowa head his list. He could commit on Sept. 12, when he attends the USC-Ohio State game in Columbus, Ohio. He admits the recruiting process "has been a lot tougher than I thought it would be."
"Originally, I thought I would commit in the spring, but now it will be in the fall," he said. "The process is pretty stressful. There is so much you have to look at. You have to know who is BS'ing you. College coaches are pulling you in a lot of different ways. I have narrowed my options, and now I must decide what is best for me."
Fiedorowicz still hasn't discounted Wisconsin and Notre Dame. Aside from the Sept. 12 trip to Ohio State, he plans to visit Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois before making his decision. It appears Ohio State would have an edge "if they use their offense like I want them to."
"I wish they used the tight end more. Last year, they used the tight end only 15 times [for passes]," he said. "If they don't change, I'll probably go to Iowa. It's not fun to be a tight end if all you do is block. I want to catch the ball, go for deep and mid-range passes. But with Terrelle Pryor in the offense, will they want to pass the ball to the tight end a lot?"
Fiedorowicz has worked hard to become the best football prospect he can be. He passed up baseball this spring to improve his quickness by sprinting on the track team. He has been timed in 11.4 seconds for 100 meters and 23.8 for the 200. He covers 40 yards in 4.5 seconds. He's a member of Johnsburg's 400-meter relay that qualified for the state finals.
How good is the Class of 2010 in the Chicago area?
"It is above average, better than the last two years," recruiting analyst Tom Lemming said. "Only time will tell if it produces 100 scholarships. The high-water mark was 141 in the Class of 1986. This class has depth at almost every position. There are at least 60 who have enough talent to be deserving of a top 30 ranking."
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