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4-Star WR Mark Pope Discusses Commitment Timeline
Four-star wide receiver Mark Pope has a timeline set for when he wants to announce his college commitment, and he already has some visits planned.
February 9, 2017
Four-star wide receiver Mark Pope has a timeline set for when he wants to announce his college commitment, and he already has some visits planned.
South Florida has been, is, and will be — for a long time — a hotbed for college football recruits.
The 2018 class is stocked with talented prospects, and one of the nation’s top pass catchers is straight out of Miami.
Four-star recruit Mark Pope, who’s ranked as the No. 50 wide receiver and No. 281 overall player in the country, has a large number of elite programs chasing after his commitment. But the clock is working against them, as Pope already knows when he wants to go public with his college decision.
The 6-foot, 160-pound wide receiver told 247Sports he plans to announce his commitment in May or early June. And, at the moment, it appears as though his hometown Hurricanes have the edge in his recruitment.
“Miami is still sticking out. Coach [Mark Richt] has been on me since he was at Georgia,” Pope said. “Everything is going well there with coach [David Cooney] and [wide receivers coach Ron Dugans].”
Ironically, considering that Richt began recruiting Pope while at the helm in Athens, the Bulldogs have continued their pursuit of the Sunshine State’s No. 11 wide receiver despite the transition to Kirby Smart.
Wide receivers coach James Coley is trying to lure Pope and his family to Georgia for an unofficial visit, but he isn’t alone.
In addition to Miami and UGA, Pope intends to take trips to Austin and Tuscaloosa this summer. Alabama has been on a run of landing blue-chip receivers in recent years, and the Crimson Tide have consistently gone into South Florida to find them. Nick Saban’s staff has come up with guys like Amari Cooper, Calvin Ridley and Jerry Jeudy.
However, Texas may be most in need of a visit from Pope. The Longhorns are going in a new direction with Tom Herman, and they certainly need to add young weapons to their wide receiver corps for quarterbacks Shane Buechele and recently signed Sam Ehlinger.
If Herman’s staff can notch a near-perfect visit with Pope on campus, it will go a long way. But it might be a moot point when it’s all said and done because Miami has been and continues to be the favorite.
MORE: Campus Insiders’ Power Five College Football Recruiters Of The Year
