Elite 11 QB Maddox Kopp Previews Upcoming Commitment
Ole Miss, Colorado, Houston, Tulane or Wyoming?
The question has surrounded Houston (Texas) St. Thomas quarterback Maddox Kopp over the last month or so. Privately, he has already made his college decision and will share it with the football world the evening of September 1.
"It's been crazy," he told SI All-American of the build up. "A lot of stuff has been happening...just trying to figure all of that stuff out and make the best decision that I can.
"I'm actually gonna be committing at St. Thomas at 8:15, I'm gonna live stream it and have one of my friends Tweet it out right when I commit. There will be some news stations there to cover it."
The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Kopp, who broke out nationally during the Elite 11 quarterback competition earlier this summer, racked up a dozen offers in a short amount of time. Several other programs showed interest even more recently.
"I was talking to Texas for a little bit, Iowa State, UCLA and USC were talking to me a bit," he said. "Just keeping the lines of communication open. I told those schools that if something was gonna happen it needed to before that September 1 date and I would reconsider, but nothing like that happened so I didn't really have to deal with it."
The senior is at ease with his soon to be public pick and provided a hint as to how one program won out.
"I honestly knew two or three days ago, I realized where I wanted to go and where I wanted to be," Kopp said. "I want to keep it under wraps, I've only told two of my teammates so it's gonna be fun.
"It was just the love I received from the guys over there. The ability to win and play early in my career was something that really went into it. Just an opportunity to go in and play was something big for me."
Kopp was able to see three of his five finalists' campus in person. All five programs of course took to Zoom and FaceTime to make late pitches to the Texan given the in-person recruiting restrictions in place because of COVID-19.
"Being in person was big, to see stuff, but schools did the best they could with what they had," he said. "I've seen Tulane, Houston and Ole Miss in person. I wasn't able to go out to Colorado and Wyoming because it's just so far and I started school up."
2019 was Kopp's first year as the starter for St. Thomas and he took advantage in a big way, throwing for 3,089 yards and 28 touchdowns in 13 games.
He also shines on the court for St. Thomas basketball and plans on playing for the Eagles for one more season before the college focus shifts completely to the game of football's most important position.
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