SIGNED: WR Khiry Cooper

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Calvary's Cooper looks to step up talks with Angels

This week roughly marks the halfway point between the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft and the Aug. 15 deadline for teams to sign their draftees.

For former Calvary star Khiry Cooper, the fifth-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, in the middle is where he remains.

The former two-sport star currently is taking summer school classes at the University of Nebraska, where he signed a football scholarship in February.

"We haven't sat down because I've been busy up here with school and study hall and practice and everything," Cooper said during the weekend.

The Angels organization would only say the negotiations are "in the process."

The process is expected to pick up steam later this week when Cooper finishes his course work in Nebraska.

"They wanted me to go July 8 to a workout in Arlington (Texas), but I don't get out of class until July 11," Cooper said. "I have to stay and do that. When I get back, I may do a workout for them."

While many draftees strictly are dealing with negotiations at this point, Cooper, a two-time All-City and All-State outfielder, is grateful for his workouts with the Cornhuskers football program.

"It's kept my mind off all this," he said. "I haven't got a chance to think about it as much as I've wanted to because I've been so busy. But it's going well up here."

Cooper has made sure his baseball skills don't suffer, finding time to head to the university's batting cages when he's not in class or drilling on the football field.

"I've been hitting balls on the weekends," Cooper said. "I actually went to the cages (Wednesday) night with one of the guys on the team."

Now all that's left is to figure out if he and the Angels can beat the Aug. 15 deadline.

"I'm still trying to figure out what's going on with the Angels," Cooper said.

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DJR313 said:
AR Husker Fan said:
I hope he realizes how little $150,000 actually is. First, there's the taxes. Second, he'll almost certainly blow some of it on a nice ride. Then, he'll end up in the minors for a few years, at least - and the pay there is awful, so he'll be tempted to dip into what's left. Better to come to NU, play both sports as much as possible, and see what happens.
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$150k is just the signing bonus though. If he signs a contract also, he may make more than what the minors minimums are. Regardless, 150k is probably less than what a 4 year education at UNL costs, room and board, meals and the professional coaching and training he will get at UNL. Chances are, if he plays baseball here too, his stock will only improve.
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thing is though, what if college baseball exposes his weaknesses more so than high school did? and his draft stock falls... then he makes even less and potentially won't be able to make what he could now. it could go either way, could help, could hurt....

and 150k is a lot more than the projected costs for an out of state student.... average costs (which includes room and board) is just shy of 92k.

 
It's really sounding to me like this kid wants to go play baseball. Unfortunately, I'm thinking he'll jump ship to become a minor leaguer. Hope I'm wrong.

 
Huskerballz said:
It's really sounding to me like this kid wants to go play baseball. Unfortunately, I'm thinking he'll jump ship to become a minor leaguer. Hope I'm wrong.
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I guess we'll know by 8/15, but the coaches seem to like our chances:

NU Football: Will Cooper be a Husker?BY MITCH SHERMAN

WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN — Khiry Cooper is laying low.

The Nebraska football and baseball prospect, on target to start school next month in Lincoln, returned home recently to Shreveport, La., to spend time with his ailing grandmother.

With Aug. 3 in view as the reporting date for NU football camp and the Aug. 15 Major League Baseball signing deadline looming, Cooper is not taking calls or returning messages.

But three Nebraska coaches, after Cooper spent the past five weeks in Lincoln to attend summer school, offered this: They still expect him to reject a six-figure signing-bonus offer from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

"As far as I know, he's coming," Nebraska receivers coach Ted Gilmore said, "but stranger things have happened. All we can do is wait and see what he has to tell us."

Cooper, 6-foot-2 and 180 pounds, starred as a wide receiver and center fielder for Calvary Baptist High School in Shreveport. He is expected to play both sports at Nebraska.

When he signed with the NU football team in February, Cooper did not rank among the five or so most prominent recruits in coach Bo Pelini's first class.

That all changed June 5, when the Angels drafted him in the fifth round.

Cooper turned down an initial offer in the $200,000 range.

While in Lincoln this summer, Cooper trained with the football team and took a few swings in the batting cages at the Hawks Center. He also got to know Eric Newman, the NU pitching coach and baseball recruiting coordinator.

"I get the sense from Khiry that he is very aware of what's in front of him," Newman said. "His situation at Nebraska is not something that you walk away from for $200,000. For lack of a better word, you've got to make (the Angels) pay.

"I don't know if I said this directly to Khiry, but if he gets anything less than a couple million dollars, he's probably shortchanging himself."

The Angels, no doubt, have money to pay. The organization's first-round pick this year went to the Minnesota Twins, retribution for the offseason signing of free-agent outfielder Torii Hunter.

Second-round selection Tyler Chatwood signed for a reported $547,000. Cooper is among two of the Angels' top 10 picks who remain unsigned.

Meanwhile, the NU football and baseball programs remain in communication about their prospective two-sport participant.

Gilmore and baseball coach Mike Anderson, in fact, discussed the situation Monday. Anderson said he told Gilmore it's not Aug. 15 that should most concern Nebraska but rather Aug. 7 or 8, when the Angels assess their signing-bonus budget and make a final run at Cooper.

"There's nothing we can do about that," Gilmore said. "We can't offer him any money."

Among the NU coaches, Ron Brown is perhaps the most optimistic about Cooper.

Brown, the tight ends coach who recruited Cooper, developed a strong relationship with the player and his mother in part because of mutual acquaintances through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

"I saw his maturity in the recruiting process," Brown said. "He did not press panic buttons. He was one of our last commits, but he always kept his priorities focused and in front of him."

Cooper twice declined opportunities to visit Nebraska during the recruiting period - once because of an event at his high school and later to attend a church camp.

"He's got a non-negotiable mechanism on how he makes decisions," Brown said, "and it's not going to be a situation where people talk him into something.

"Is that a guarantee we're going to see him here at Nebraska? No, but I don't think he'll be wooed. I feel very good about it being in his hands."
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From OWH Tom Shatel's column today:

Pelini said that two-sport recruit Khiry Cooper is in camp and added "we are expecting him to be here."
The Los Angeles Angels had no comment. But the Angels have until Aug. 15 to sign Cooper, their fifth-round pick in 2008, to a major league contract. Insiders think that it would take at least $500,000 to lure Cooper away from Lincoln. Likely, the Angels will wait until the deadline and see how much money they have left after signing their other draft picks.

In the meantime, it makes sense for Cooper to be in Husker camp. If he doesn't sign, he's on schedule with the rest of the team. And it's not a bad negotiating tool for Cooper, to show the Angels that he's serious enough about college to be here. Stay tuned. It's far from over.
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So as an FYI, MLB/Bud Selig is being a hard-*ss in regards to the signing bonuses. The official story is the Cubs were fined $500,000 for violations in regards to their 4th round pick. Coincidentally, this also happens to be the bonus they gave him above the slotted amount. Clearly Selig is doing everything he can to prevent teams from going outside the suggested slots. The $500,000 given to the 131st pick overall was more than twice the amount given to the 131st pick last year. My guess is most baseball folks would quite surprised if the 169th pick Cooper got that much. Also the Angels seem to have been pretty cheap the last few years (though they probably have not been drafting very high).

 
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Corrrect me if I'm worng here. I believe the MBL has until 11:00 (PM?) to seal the deal with Khiry. We will have an answer no later than tomorrow as to his status with the team. Bo believes he is a husker and will ramain a Husker. **crossing fingers**

:thumbs

GBR

 
BigRedfxtoy said:
Corrrect me if I'm worng here. I believe the MBL has until 11:00 (PM?) to seal the deal with Khiry. We will have an answer no later than tomorrow as to his status with the team. Bo believes he is a husker and will ramain a Husker. **crossing fingers**

:thumbs

GBR
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I believe you are correct.

 
It probably helps that he has looked damn good and looks to play as a true frosh. Maybe his future is in football. Might as well play both in college and see how things progress.

 
Blackshirtsguru said:
I just looked at his recruiting videos from last year. This kid will be a starter next season.......Mark it down!
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It sounds like he has been very impressive so far but if I had to guess I would say he would be the 3rd or 4th receiver at the start of next year. He will probably be behind Meno Holt and Niles Paul for sure. Plus, you throw Chris Brooks, JUCO Brandon Kinnie and even Curenski Gilleyen with his speed into the mix.

 
Discovered yesterday that Khiry Cooper is dating Layne Reeves, a guard on the Huskers Lady's basketball team. Small world ... I was a Pastor in Lubbock at the time her family was in that church. Watched her play when she was in 8th-9th grade and she was quite the ball player then.

SheepdogMark

 
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