Big 10 School in Hot Pursuit of Mike Cole

Mike Cole, by way of North Brunswick HS [North Brunswick, NJ], stands at 6-foot-3 and is up to 265-pounds. Cole was in attendance at a Rutgers practice earlier this week and talked about the Scarlet Knights. However, its a Big 10 school that is currently in hot pursuit of the Garden State lineman.

Mike Cole [6-foot-3 and 265-pounds] by way of North Brunwick HS has yet to receive his first offer. However, one program has stepped up their pursuit of the standout Garden State lineman.

"I am hearing from Rutgers, Northwestern, Syracuse, UConn, Iowa and a few others," stated Cole.

"The schools in very close contact are Rutgers, Syracuse, Northwestern, and UConn. I have been in contact with Coach [Kevin] Johns from Northwestern and I have been in e-mail contact, for a while now, and I've spoken to Coach [Marty] Long, the defensive line Coach up there. I talked to him for a while last week and he told me to stay in touch with him and that I should definitely come up to their one day camp over the summer, which I plan on doing."

Cole said he was very impressed with the recent surge of attention the Big 10 program is paying him and is establishing a good relationship with several members of the Northwestern staff.

Cole, who impressed onlookers with a 4.84 40-yard dash at the Chuck Mound Football Challenge a little less than two weeks ago, also paid the home state Scarlet Knights a recent visit.

"On Tuesday, I went up to the Rutgers practice. It was pretty cool there. They were very organized and ran things very well," said Cole.

In addition to the practice session he's attended in Piscataway, NJ, Cole has also been to a couple of Junior Days.

"The junior days that I have been to were at Rutgers and Syracuse. At Syracuse we took a tour of the facilities and they were really nice. Then we listened to the coach talk for a little bit but the part I liked the most was when we got to ask the players some questions. All the coaches left the room and we got to ask the players any question we wanted. I also got to spend some time with Coach [Derrick] Jackson, the defensive line coach. He seems like a great guy and a very good coach, and he cares a lot about his players on and off the field which matters a lot to me," said Cole.

Cole's summer plans are not entirely certain at this point though a few schools, including Northwestern, Syracuse and/or Connecticut, and Rutgers, appear to have the best shot at having the NJ standout in attendance for summer camp.

In the meantime, Cole will continue his offseason training and begin preparations for this upcoming summer camps.

"We just got finished with our early morning running sessions at 6:30 a.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Now for spring, I plan on working out 4 times a week and do speed training Mondays and Wednesdays after school and some light running a few days a week also."

Matei may be reached at [e-mail]