High school football: Juan Diego prospect Dakota Cox commits to Cincinnati

DRAPER — It’s not often a top Utah high school football prospect finds a perfect fit out in the Midwest, but that’s exactly what happened to Dakota Cox. The Juan Diego standout committed Thursday to Cincinnati after taking unofficial visits to a number of schools in the Midwest.

Cox is a 6-foot-1, 225-pound inside linebacker prospect who fell in love with everything Cincinnati had to offer on a recent trip. Following a stellar performance during workouts, which included a timed 4.6 40-yard dash, Cincinnati offered him a scholarship.

Upon thinking about it for a couple of days, Cox decided to commit.

“I really love every single thing about Cincinnati,” said Cox. “I love the campus. I love the area. And most of all I love the coaching staff. I really felt like it was the only school I wanted to play for while on my visit, so I decided to commit.”

It’s not as if Cox fell in love with the first place he took a close look at — far from it. Over the past two summers, Cox has made unofficial visits to 30 different schools and felt that Cincinnati stood on top of all of them with what they offer.

A key factor that brought Cincinnati into consideration was his father, Tom Cox, who grew up in Xenia, Ohio, which is close to the Bearcat campus.

“My father played for USC and loved having the experience of playing away from his hometown, so I wanted to have that same experience,” said Cox. “I was recruited by Utah and BYU, but I really had my mind set on playing out of state.”

Cox still has a lot of family in the area, which was another positive in committing to Cincinnati.

Cox will compete for a spot at inside linebacker when he joins the program in 2013.

“I believe that Cincinnati offers me a lot of stability as a program and is the place where I can grow best as a player and a student,” he said. “Their coach recently signed a six-year extension, so knowing that he’ll be there the entire time I’m there really helped me make my decision. I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunities I’ll have there.”

Email: bgurney@desnews.com

Twitter: @BrandonCGurney