Whitney head coach Mike Gimenez knew he was getting something very special when Cope-Fitzpatrick arrived in Rocklin last season.
“He had just showed up on our campus last year because his family had just moved here from Southern California,” explained Gimenez. “The first day I met him, it was pretty easy to see that he was a pretty large kid and extremely talented. Once we started practice, I got to see him making catches and it was pretty amazing to see. His ball skills and the way he's able to track balls down, I've never seen a kid his size be able to do the things he does. You just stand there and say, ‘Wow.’”
The 6-foot-5, 250-pound tight end has also caught the eye of over 20 quality college programs like California, Colorado, Iowa State, Miami (FL), Nebraska, Oregon State, UCLA, Utah, Washington and Washington State, who have all extended offers.
“It's hard to keep track of it at times because there are so many coaches showing up,” said the Whitney head coach. “We have him and another highly-recruited quarterback by the name of Jake Rodrigues, and between the both of them, it gets a bit crazy at times.”
According to Gimenez, it's easy to see why so many recruiters like what Cope-Fitzpatrick has to offer.
“Jalen is a pretty exciting and amazing player,” claimed Coach Gimenez. “He's a mix of size, speed and amazing ball skills. It makes him a multidimensional player on offense.”
Another school beginning show interest is Notre Dame.
“They stopped by our school on the first or second day we had of spring ball,” said the coach. “Coach (Mike) Denbrock was trying to get a good look at him at practice to see what he does well and he just wanted to see him in person.
“I got to speak to Coach Denbrock afterwards and as of right now they’re not sure where they’re at in terms of tight end, but I know they really, really like him.
“He said they thought he was an excellent player and they're going to continue moving forward with the recruiting process with him. I know they want him to come up to camp in South Bend and I believe he is going to do that next month.”
That trip to Notre Dame's campus could have a really big impact when the tight end is ready to cut some schools and choose his favorites.
“I think he's going to narrow his list down later rather than sooner,” said the head coach. “He wants to visit some places first, and I know he really wants to visit Notre Dame. That is really high on his list.
“Once he does that, he'll narrow it down to about four or five schools sometime into fall.”
