The Pirates see their first decommitment of the 2025 class take place.
Three-star EDGE prospect Zion Cooley, who committed to East Carolina University over the summer, has officially reopened his recruitment, as he announced on Monday. A student at Carrollton High School in Georgia, Cooley is the first player to publicly decommit since head coach Mike Houston was dismissed on Oct. 20.
Cooley holds a .8667 rating on the 247Sports Composite, positioning him among the Top 1000 prospects nationally, as the 78th-ranked EDGE player and the 109th in Georgia. He originally committed to ECU on June 15, shortly after his official visit and later returned for an unofficial visit during the UTSA game.
“After much thought and consideration, I have decided to decommit from ECU and reopen my recruitment,” he shared on social media. “I want to thank all the coaches at ECU for their hospitality and respect, and I look forward to the rest of this recruiting journey!”
Zion Cooley has been a versatile player over four years at Carrollton High School, a powerhouse program, taking snaps at both tight end and defensive end. Standing at 6-foot-4 and weighing 225 pounds, ECU projected Cooley to play the standup “RUSH” outside linebacker role. With interest from some schools in both defensive and tight end positions, Cooley may have the opportunity to play on offense at the college level.
When he committed to ECU, Cooley held offers from Florida Atlantic, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Mercer, Navy, Samford, South Alabama, Troy, UAB, and Wofford. East Carolina’s defensive coordinator Blake Harrell, now the interim head coach, and defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Rico Zackery led his recruitment. The Pirates improved to 4-4 following a 56-34 victory over Temple last weekend.
Carrollton, which finished last season with 11 wins, is currently undefeated at 9-0 in the 2024 season heading into its final regular-season game.
With Cooley’s decommitment, East Carolina’s 2025 recruiting class now has two verbal commitments and ranks 66th nationally, according to 247Sports. Within the American Athletic Conference, the class stands third.
