Virden (Ill.) North Mac junior offensive tackle recruit Cooper Starks (6-foot-5, 320 pounds) was able to add his first scholarship offer on Wednesday from Central Michigan University. Starks fills us in on adding his first scholarship offer from the Chippewas and much more in this latest recruiting news update.

"The scholarship offer from Central Michigan caught me completely off guard," Starks said. "I got a DM from one of the CMU coaches asking me to call them back. I wasn't sure what to expect when I called them back and for them to offer me a scholarship was just a surreal feeling. It really took me until the next day before it all started to sink in to be honest."

Starks filled us in on his initial thoughts on adding a scholarship from Central Michigan.

"I honestly don't know a lot about them right now. I really didn't have much contact with anyone from CMU until this week. I do know that a few of the CMU coaches came and watched one of my games earlier this season and they sat in the stands. I've heard that CMU is a good school and that they are competitive team in the MAC conference. The coaches at CMU want me to come out this spring for a junior day visit and I'm excited about the offer and the opportunity from Central Michigan."

Starks also filled us in on his latest recruiting news and a list of schools showing interest in him this winter.

"Besides CMU, I've also been in contact with the coaches from North Dakota State, Ball State, Miami of Ohio and also Eastern Illinois. I made game day visits to all four of those schools earlier in the season and I'll get out to Central Michigan soon. I've also been in touch with the coaches at both Illinois and Purdue a bit."

Starks was also asked to grade his overall performance from this past season.

"We ended up going 5-4 and lost in the first round of the state playoffs. We had a really rough start to the season and had 10 out of our 22 players out with COVID to start the season. We found a way to hang in there and things got better as the season moved a long. I felt I played well at times this past season. I was able to just play more under control this season and the game seemed to slow down a bit for me. I also felt good about getting to the second level of blocks. I'm working hard on improving my overall speed and quickness this off season. I've been able to lower my testing times and I just want to play faster and be quicker in my entire game.

Starks is also hoping to follow in the footsteps of former North Mac and current Southeast Missouri State OL Will Christopher.

"I work out in the summer with Will and he has been helping me a ton with my game a long with recruiting. Will and his family have a lot of experience with the recruiting process so he's been a great friend and a big help for me and my family in a lot of ways."

Cooper Starks has a scholarship offer from Central Michigan.